Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are set to star in Danny Boyle’s upcoming 28 Years Later trilogy, Deadline exclusively reported.

28 Years Later is said to be the first movie in the new trilogy, which follows the original film 28 Days Later. Boyle will direct from Alex Garland’s script. Sony will release the movie in cinemas worldwide.

Details of the plot remain vague. The original 28 Days Later movie released in 2002 followed the story of bicycle courier Jim (played by Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy in his breakout role) who wakes up from a coma to a world infested by zombie caused by a virus outbreak. The film earned $84.7 million worldwide. It was followed by a sequel 28 Weeks Later in 2007; however, Boyle and Garland were involved only as executive producers.

28 Years Later gets its stars

Cillian Murphy, in his role in 28 Days Later, the movie's poster as background

The entertainment website reported that The Marvels director Nia DaCosta is attached to direct part two of the trilogy. The plan is to shoot the second part immediately after the first is done. With the casting of three well-established and popular actors, Sony is throwing its weight on the project, compared to the previous movies which starred lesser-known actors.

Boyle and Garland will also serve as producers for 28 Years Later. Also returning is original producer Andrew Macdonald. Murphy will also return as executive producer.

Academy Award-winning director Boyle’s most recent feature project was 2019’s Yesterday. Oscar nominee Garland recently wrote and directed the dystopian film Civil War.

New zombie fighters?

Taylor-Johnson — or as the internet knows him these days, “the man sick of getting asked if he’s going to be the next 007” — most recently starred in 2022’s Bullet Train. He will next be seen in this year’s The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The actor will also return to the Marvel Universe, this time as Sergei Kravinoff in Kraven the Hunter which is set for release in October.

He will also star in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu with Bill Skarsgård and Willem Defoe. Aside from 28 Years Later, he has two other projects in pre-production: the drama Rothko and WWII thriller Fuze.

Primetime Emmy Award-winning Comer is most famous for her role as Villanelle in the BBC drama Killing Eve. The actress was last seen on stage in the one-woman play Prima Facie, for which she won an Olivier on West End and a Tony on Broadway. She had two movies released last year: the crime drama The Bikeriders and the thriller The End We Start From.

Academy Award-nominated Fiennes will finish his four-city run of Macbeth in Washington, D.C. on May 5. He was last seen in the Netflix film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More. He’s set to star in two movies this year. The actor will play a cardinal tasked to lead the selection of a new pope in Edward Berger’s Conclave with John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci. In Uberto Pasolini’s The Return, he will play Odysseus opposite Juliette Binoche as Penelope.