Yahoo Lifestyle Art Dealer Says He’s Playing the Cillian Murphy-Looking Zombie in ’28 Years Later’ Amid Trailer Confusion: Danny Boyle ‘Always Had Me in Mind for the Role’
The first trailer for Sony’s horror tentpole “28 Years Later” went viral not only because it marked the return of the zombie horror franchise after 17 years but also because of a one-second shot of an emaciated zombie that looked awfully like Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, who starred in 2002’s “28 Days Later” and is rumored to be returning for the new installment.
Murphy starred in 2002’s “28 Days Later” as Jim, a bicycle courier who wakes up from a coma to discover an apocalyptic London that has been destroyed by a zombie virus. Jim survives the events of the movie but did not appear in the 2007 sequel “28 Weeks Later.” Murphy is an executive producer on the upcoming “28 Years Later,” and the trailer’s reveal of a zombie looking like the Oscar winner left fans both excited that Murphy was back as Jim but devastated over Jim not surviving the zombie outbreak after all.
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Not so fast, however. The Guardian is revealing in a new story that the Murphy-looking zombie in “28 Years Later” is not the “Oppenheimer” actor but art dealer and acting newcomer Angus Neill. Sony has not returned Variety’s request for comment.
“Danny told me he’d always had me in mind for the role. So we met up, hit it off, and I agreed to take part,” Neill told The Guardian. “On set he has an extraordinary ability to hypnotize you, and working with him on the film was a very, very intense experience.”
Whether or not Murphy will be back as Jim in “28 Years Later” remains a mystery. The new film is led by franchise newcomers Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes, plus Erin Kellyman and Jack O’Connell.
The official “28 Years Later” synopsis reads: “It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.”
“28 Years Later” will serve as the first in a trilogy of sequel films spearheaded by original franchise director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland. The film opens in theaters June 20, 2025.
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