Danny Boyle credits Cillian Murphy for 28 Years Later comeback

Extra.ie​

21-06-2025

28 Years Later director Danny Boyle paid heartfelt tribute to longtime collaborator Cillian Murphy, crediting the acclaimed actor as a driving force behind both the film's success and the franchise's much-anticipated return.
Speaking to Extra.ie ahead of the Irish Gala Screening on Friday, Boyle praised Murphy's commitment and creative influence, saying the latest instalment simply wouldn't have happened without him.
A fresh-faced Cillian starred in the original 28 Days Later back in 2002, playing the role of Jim, a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover that the accidental release of a highly contagious virus known as the 'rage virus', has kicked off the decline of society. Director Danny Boyle at the Gala screening of 28 Years Later at the IFI, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Photography
Chatting on the red carpet, Boyle shared his gratitude at getting the opportunity to return to one of cinema's bleakest universes.
' It's a privilege to still be working. You have to remember that, just to get a job is great, but to be able to do one that's this ambitious,' the Oscar-winning director began, stating his disbelief.
' We're trying to create three films and a lot of our ability to do that is linked to Cillian's involvement in the film, in the trilogy of films,' he added. View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Extra.ie (@extradotie)
'He's a producer in the first film. You've got to be grateful that you can undertake something this ambitious at this point in your career, 'cause you want to use your experience to keep challenging yourself and keep pushing, pushing the boundaries of what the public will tolerate, you know? What they'll be interested in and obviously Killian gives us a big advantage in that respect.'
Boyle also shared a more playful tidbit about his creative counterpart, admitting that if the rage virus ever broke out in real life, Cillian would be his top pick to survive of all the actors who've entered into the franchise.
'You'd have to say Cillian, especially as ones in Ireland today. My answer might change if I was somewhere else,' he laughed. 'The ferocity he produced at the end of the first movie was something to believe. It'd be very interesting to meet him 28 years after that time and see what's happened to him.' Speaking to Extra.ie ahead of the Irish Gala Screening on Friday, Boyle praised Murphy's commitment and creative influence, saying the latest installment simply wouldn't have happened without him. Pic: Brian McEvoy Photography
Set almost three decades after the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, the new instalment in the franchise follows a group of survivors who inhabit a small island connected to the mainland by a single causeway.
A synopsis for the film reads: 'When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors.'
The film also stars Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Alfie Williams and is in Irish cinemas now.