We got word earlier this year that 28 Days Later director (Danny Boyle) and writer (Alex Garland) are teaming up for a series of sequels to the 2002 horror hit, and the first cast members have now been announced.
According to Deadline, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have signed on to play the lead roles in the first film of the planned trilogy.
Comer had previously been rumored to be in talks along with Charlie Hunnam, but there's no mention of the Rebel Moon actor in the trade's report, so perhaps Taylor-Johnson ended up nabbing the part he was up for.
The original movie’s star, Cillian Murphy, is on board as a producer, and has indicated that he would be interested in reprising the role of Jim.
28 Days Later was a massive success, and already spawned one less well-regarded (but still well worth watching) follow-up in 2007's 28 Weeks Later. Boyle and Garland were only involved as executive producers on that project, so a lot of fans are sure to view this new movie as the first true sequel.
Boyle will helm the first instalment, while Nia DaCosta was recently announced as the second film's director. The plan is to shoot both back-to-back. Garland will write all three. The budget for each movie is said to be in the $75 million range.
The first film starred Murphy as a man who wakes from a coma after a bicycle accident to find that England has been overrun by "The Infected." The virus turns its victims into raging killers, but unlike the usual "zombies," these creatures can move with frightening speed. The man then sets out to learn what's been going on, meeting fellow survivors played by Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson along the way, as well as a deranged army major played by Christopher Eccleston.
Plot details for 28 Years Later are still under wraps, but the timeframe would suggest that it will take place in a near-future setting, which means the movie might lean more towards sci-fi than straight-up horror.
"A group of misguided animal rights activists free a caged chimp infected with the "Rage" virus from a medical research lab. When London bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma a month after, he finds his city all but deserted. On the run from the zombie-like victims of the Rage, Jim stumbles upon a group of survivors, including Selena (Naomie Harris) and cab driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson), and joins them on a perilous journey to what he hopes will be safety."