It seems like a million years ago when Danny Boyle introduced the world to Cillian Murphy in Alex Garland’s 20 Days Later but it was only 20 years ago and I still recall being a young journalist interviewing all three at the movie’s Irish premiere and finding them all to be very approachable and pleasant… except Garland who I argued with over a misunderstanding, much to the chagrin of my editor but that’s a story for another day, I suppose.
However, that’s all in the past and I’m a big fan of all three and the movie and its sequel, 28 Weeks later, so I’m excited to hear we’re possibly not far off getting a third chapter with the trio all returning.
“I think there’s a problem with that, in that I’m 20 years older…” says Murphy, before adding: “But every time I do bump into Danny or Alex I always mention it. Because I showed it to my kids recently, some Halloween about four or five years ago, and they loved it. It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that’s 20 years old. So yeah, I love the idea and it’s very appealing to me.2
Boyle says that Garland wrote 28 Months Later a couple of years ago and “I’d be very tempted [to direct it]. It feels like a very good time, actually. It’s funny, I hadn’t thought about it until you just said it, and I remembered ‘Bang, this script!’ which is again set in England, very much about England. Anyway, we’ll see… who knows?
“It might come back into focus because one of the things that’s happening in the business at the moment is it has to be a big reason for you to go to the cinema because there are less and less reasons. It’s hard for companies distributing films and for cinema chains to show films, they’re struggling to get people into the cinema unless it’s something like Top Gun: Maverick or a Marvel. But a third part would get people in, if it was half-decent.”
Boyle makes a good point in that, after that damned virus, studios need sure things for a while, to get people back into cinemas and an established franchise like 28 Days/Weeks/Months with three of the top names in the business might be just the ticket… I know we here at FTN HQ would be there in second.
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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