Danny Boyle Promises Cillian Murphy's Role in 28 Years Later Sequel

Danny Boyle is confident the third chapter in the 28 Years Later saga will see the light of day. Speaking to Variety, the director said the film, tentatively referred to as "28 Years 3," will get made because audience demand remains high.

Boyle revealed that a script by Alex Garland is already written and described it as "very good." He also confirmed that Cillian Murphy, who starred in the original 28 Days Later, will have a significant presence in the project. "A lot of Cillian Murphy in it," Boyle said, joking about whether the now Oscar-winning actor would be as inclined to disrobe on screen.

During the same Zurich Film Festival appearance, Boyle weighed in on the future of James Bond. He threw his support behind Jack O'Connell for the iconic role, stating plainly, "They should cast Jack O'Connell as Bond."

Boyle's own history with the franchise is a matter of public record, having exited the Bond film that became No Time to Die. He told Variety the producers lost confidence in the story he and writer John Hodge had developed, calling the outcome "a shame." He did express confidence in Denis Villeneuve's potential stewardship of the series, calling the Dune director "amazing."

The director was at the festival to present his new film Ink, a biographical drama starring O'Connell as newspaper editor Larry Lamb. Boyle praised O'Connell's recent performance in Back to Black and compared his complex, morally ambiguous role in Ink to Al Pacino's in The Godfather Part II.