Danny Boyle has confirmed that a third instalment in the 28 Days Later franchise is in the works, sixteen years after the influential horror film hit cinemas.

Released in 2003, the apocalyptic horror starred Cillian Murphy as Jim, a courier who awakes from a coma 28 days after a zombie invasion has destroyed modern society. The film is widely considered to be the turning point for the revival of the big screen zombie genre and spawned the 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later – which starred Robert Carlyle.

Now, Boyle has confirmed that a third film in the series is in development, some 12 years after the sequel arrived. Speaking to The Independent, the Trainspotting director said that he’s teaming up once more with screenwriter Alex Garland – who penned the script for the original movie.


While details on a third project remain scarce, it’s believed that it could take a jump forward – taking place some 28 months after the events of the original.

Discussing the prospect of a new sequel, Garland told IGN in 2015: “We’ve just started talking about it seriously.

“We’ve got an idea. Danny [Boyle] and [producer] Andrew [Macdonald] and I have been having quite serious conversations about it so it is a possibility. It’s complicated. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why it’s complicated, which are boring so I won’t go into, but there’s a possibility.”

He added: “It’s more likely to be 28 Months than 28 Years. 28 Years gives you one more place to go. 28 Decades is probably taking the piss.”


Meanwhile, Boyle returns to cinemas this week with Yesterday – his first film since departing as director of Bond 25 last summer. Discussing Bond, Boyle said he believes that Robert Pattinson should take over from Daniel Craig in the role.