Fans believe they’ve spotted Cillian Murphy in the trailer for the long-awaited 28 Days Later sequel - as a zombie.
28 Years Later, directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, is out next summer and the first footage from the film was released on Tuesday morning.
The film, which follows 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, stars franchise newcomers Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes.
But eagle-eyed fans were quick to speculate that a quick clip of a zombie looks a lot like the Oscar-winning Irish actor Murphy.
"The zombie rising up in the field looked like my boi, Cillian Murphy," wrote one commenter on the official trailer, with another adding: "CILLIAN MURPHY IS THAT YOU?!?"
28 Days Later was a breakout low-budget hit back in 2002. Famously shot in a run-and-gun style, on a cheap digital video camera, it popularized the ‘fast zombies’ trend of the 00s - although in the movie the mindless hordes of flesh eaters are referred to ‘infected’ rather than zombies or undead.
In that original film Cillian Murphy stars as Jim, a bicycle courier who wakes up in hospital to discover the UK has fallen to a zombie epidemic and he must ally with Naomie Harris (Selena) and Brendan Gleeson (Frank) to survive.
Murphy did not return for 28 Weeks Later, released in 2007. He is an executive producer on 28 Years Later and is not listed as a cast member in the promotional material.
The film’s official synopsis reads: “It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.”
The film was shot using an iPhone 15 Pro Max and will be released June 20, 2025.
