The wait is over for fans of the post-apocalyptic horror franchise. Sony Pictures has officially given the green light to a third installment in the 28 Years Later trilogy, and the best news is that Cillian Murphy is in talks to reprise his iconic role as Jim.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of overwhelmingly positive early reactions to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the second film in the trilogy directed by Nia DaCosta. The movie hasn’t even hit theaters yet, it’s scheduled for release on January 16, 2026, but those early screenings were enough to convince Sony that audiences are hungry for more rage-infected chaos.
The trilogy was always the plan
When Sony won the rights to the 28 Years Later franchise in early 2024 after a bidding war, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland had conceived the project as a trilogy from day one. However, the studio only committed to making two films initially, shooting them back-to-back. The first installment, directed by Boyle himself, dropped in June 2025 and performed solidly at the box office, raking in $151.3 million worldwide against a $60 million budget, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise’s history.
But the real test was always going to be audience appetite for the continuation of the story. With The Bone Temple generating serious buzz following its preview screenings, Sony wasted no time pulling the trigger on the third film.
Murphy’s long-awaited return
For longtime fans of the franchise, Murphy’s involvement is the real headline here. The Oscar-winning actor launched his career with 2002’s 28 Days Later, playing bicycle courier Jim who wakes up from a coma to find London overrun by the rage virus. While Murphy served as an executive producer on both 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple, he didn’t appear on screen in the first film and only has a brief cameo at the end of The Bone Temple, essentially a teaser for what’s coming next.
His star power has grown exponentially since those early days, culminating in his Best Actor Oscar win for Oppenheimer in 2024. Having Murphy front and center for the trilogy’s conclusion is not just fan service, it’s a massive marketing coup for Sony.
The creative team reunites
Alex Garland is already working on the script for the untitled third installment, maintaining his role as the creative architect of the entire trilogy. Danny Boyle, who directed the original 28 Days Later and the first 28 Years Later, has previously expressed strong interest in returning to helm the final chapter, though nothing has been officially confirmed yet.
The narrative thread running through all three films centers on a character named Spike, a 12-year-old boy played by Alfie Williams, so expect his journey to continue playing a central role. Whether other cast members from the previous installments, like Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, or Naomie Harris from the original, will return remains to be seen.
What makes this trilogy particularly interesting is how each film has brought a different directorial voice while maintaining Garland’s consistent storytelling. Boyle kicked things off with his kinetic energy, DaCosta brought her own distinct style to The Bone Temple (she explicitly stated she wasn’t making “a Danny Boyle movie”), and now we’re potentially looking at Boyle returning to close out the story he started over 20 years ago.
The timing couldn’t be better. With The Bone Temple set to arrive in just over a month, the franchise momentum is building rapidly. If the sequel delivers on the promise of those early reactions, the third film could be positioned as one of the most anticipated horror releases of the coming years.
For fans who’ve been following Jim’s story since that haunting opening shot of an empty Westminster Bridge, this news feels like coming full circle. The rage virus outbreak that started it all is finally getting the conclusion it deserves, with the man who survived it from the very beginning leading the charge.
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