While it hasn't been exactly 28 years, the sequel to 2002's 28 Days Later from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, has arrived at Sony, according to The Hollywood Reporter exclusive.

The project, titled 28 Years Later, reunites Boyle and Garland to write and direct the sequel. But that's just for Part 1. Garland will still write Part 2, but Boyle has committed to directing just Part 1. Cillian Murphy, whose career was launched by the original movie, will also be returning as an executive producer. No word yet if the Academy Award-nominated Oppenheimer star will also reprise his role.

Almost 28 Years Later…

Cillian Murphy surrounded by piles of cash.

Three weeks ago, the package was sent around Hollywood studios and streamers. It generated great interest and intense competition. The bidding war came down between Warner Bros. and Sony. The Boyle-Garland reunion for a sequel or two based off their original work raised comparisons to George Miller and his return to Mad Max with the 2015 Fury Road.

Details of the deal currently unavailable. THR estimated that each movie could have a budget within the $60 million range. However, that could still go up depending on the compensation of the big names attached to the project. Apparently, it's important to filmmakers that the movie be released theatrically.

Both Boyle and Garland will also serve as producers, alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald, as well as former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, Peter Rice. Fox Searchlight was a division of Twentieth Century Fox and it was the original film's and sequel's producer. Bernie Bellew is also set to produce.

Sony had leverage during the bidding: Boyle's more than 30 years of relationship with studio head Rothman. Rothman had founded Fox Searchlight in the '90s and ran Fox's film division in the early aughts. He's worked with Boyle on eight of his movies from 1997's A Life Less Ordinary and the director first collaboration with Garland 2000's The Beach to 2010's 127 Hours and the multiple Academy-Award winning Slumdog Millionaire in 2008.

How Boyle and Garland zombiefied Hollywood

It has been more than two decades since Boyle and Garland made 28 Days Later, often credited as the film that reanimated the zombie genre. The film paved the way for other zombie media such as The Walking Dead (and its various spinoffs) and The Last of Us (premiered last year) on TV and streaming, 2009's Zombieland and 2013's World War Z, just to name a few.

In 28 Days Later, Murphy played a bicycle courier who wakes up from a coma only to discover that a highly contagious virus has caused aggression in those infected, effective breaking down society and civilization. The cast also included Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns and Brendan Gleeson.

The movie was a worldwide box office hit, grossing 82.7 million against an $8 million budget. A film sequel followed, 2007's 28 Weeks Later, although Boyle and Garland served only as executive producers. The movie also spawned other media such as the 2007 graphic novel 28 Days Later: The Aftermath and the comic book series with the same title as the original that ran from 2009 to 2011.

Boyle and Garland had spoken publicly about doing a sequel, even throwing around the title 28 Months Later. However, more than enough time has passed that it would be better called 28 Years Later.

Boyle has since directed Frankenstein for the National Theater in 2011, the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony in London, 2015's Steve Jobs and 2017's T2 Trainspotting.

Garland, on the other hand, has since written 2007's Sunshine, 2014's Ex Machina and 2018's Annihilation. His most current work is the upcoming movie Civil War. He's also developing an original screenplay Halo.