Danny Boyle and Alex Garland reveal the status of the third 28 Years Later project

28 Years Later shows director Danny Boyle returning to the post-apocalyptic horror franchise that began with his 28 Days Later. Once again, he teams up with the Civil War helmer Alex Garland for the screenplay. Their collaboration has met with a largely warm reception upon its release, making fans excited for the next chapter in the series, especially with the film's cliffhanger ending.

The fans won't have to wait too long to know the answers since the follow-up project, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, was shot back-to-back with Boyle's directorial and is scheduled to be in theaters on January 16, 2026. So, at least the second 28 Years Later project has been produced and is on its way to the cinemas. However, there hasn't been any concrete update about the fourth installment. That's why ScreenRant asked Boyle and Garland if they could give an idea about the status of the potential threequel. In jest, Garland said,

"The idea would be, I'd write, Danny would direct. That's the idea... [Yes, that would cap off the franchise.] Until the prequels (laughs)."

Similarly, Boyle joked, saying,

"You just, you've got to help us raise the money."

So, Boyle or Garland did not provide any specific insight about the project, but pointed out that a sequel can go on floors only if they can get it funded by the producers.

Danny Boyle mentions that Cillian Murphy is supposed to be an important character in the third 28 Years Later film.

During a recent interview with Variety, Boyle spoke about Cillian Murphy's involvement in this new trilogy.

"He’s an executive producer on this and was enormously supportive. He appears briefly in Nia’s film."

He further added,

"Our plan is that he will be an enormous character in the third film in the way that Jack O’Connell’s character — who you see briefly at the end of the first film — is an enormous character with Ralph Fiennes in the next film."

Furthermore, Garland shared insights about the status of the script for the third 28 Years Later film. He revealed that he has a plan mapped out for the trilogy, but is cautiously optimistic about the third project going on floors. When asked what it's about, he spoke about the trilogy's interconnectedness in his overall vision.

"The script isn’t written [for the third 28 Years Later project]. It’s strange: There’s a story, there’s a plan, there’s a structure. These three films are in some ways distinct from each other, in other ways interrelated, because there are characters that have a through line throughout all of them, although they are also essentially separate stories. It makes it, in filmmaking terms, have something in common with television. Both Danny and I have worked at some point on television, and TV has a slightly more organic element about the way things can unfold. So people might write a whole story arc, but then they will discover in the shooting how that story arc really lands."

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Garland further added,

"I think that, having written the first one, in many ways I didn’t know at that point what the film would be because there’s a whole set of discoveries left to uncover. The same is also true with the second film. So I had to understand something about what Ralph Fiennes is going to create with Danny, to be able to lean to that. There is always a gap between the thing that exists on the page, as it’s gone through the filter of many people’s imaginations and agendas and preoccupations, and then again in the edit. So short answer: I’ve got the idea, and I’ve got the plan, but there’s no script. I’m waiting to see what happens, I suppose."

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