28 Years Later has begun filming in the North-east this week according to a new report in The Knowledge.
News of the new film was first announced earlier this year, with confirmation that director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, who helmed the 2002 original 28 Days Later, were both returning to the franchise. 28 Years Later will be the first of a follow-up trilogy to the original films.
Cillian Murphy was also recently confirmed as returning to the franchise that launched his career.
Earlier this month, the film was given the official release date of June 20, 2025. It will also see Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell play alongside Murphy.
Now, The Knowledge are reporting that the film in shooting in various locations across the North-east, including Northumberland.
Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman opened up about Murphy’s role recently to Deadline, who said that the actor would return “in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.”
He continued: “This is Danny at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it.”
2002’s 28 Days Later saw Murphy play the bicycle courier Jim, who awakens from a coma to discover that the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.
28 Years Later is slated to be the first entry in a new trilogy, with Garland set to write and produce all three. Boyle is only expected to return for the first instalment, with Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta reportedly in talks for the second. Each film is being made with a budget in the region of $75million (£59million).
Speaking to NME in 2022 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 28 Days Later, Murphy and Boyle said that they had often spoken about a follow-up to their hit zombie flick. While Murphy said he’s now too old for it, Boyle revealed that Garland had written a script titled 28 Months Later a few years ago but nothing came of it.
Boyle said at the time: “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?”
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