Spoilers ahead for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple28 Years Later brought the epic zombie franchise back to life after 18 years, and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ensured that both new and old fans remained on the edge of their seats, as the return of one original star left everybody speechless.
Cillian Murphy from 28 Days Later (2002) returned to the franchise in the latest movie, The Bone Temple, and fans were shocked to learn what his character, Jim, was up to 28 years after the apocalypse spread across England and most of the world. Murphy’s character is in the same place he was at the end of the 2002 movie.
In an interview with GQ, The Bone Temple’s director, Nia DaCosta, spoke about Jim’s long-awaited return to the franchise and why he’s in the same place he was in 28 Days Later.
“As a fan of the first [movie], I was completely gagged—and gooped, as they say—to be the one directing his return.
In the script, he’s making tea and toast for his daughter, and teaching her about history. And he’s in that house, which he was in from the very first movie. And I was like, this cannot be some big hero returns, pew-pew-pew craziness. It has to feel grounded, and human.”
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has been receiving rave reviews since its recent release and has knocked James Cameron’s latest addition to the Avatar franchise, Fire and Ash, off of its box office pedestal, much to everyone’s surprise.
It currently has a remarkably impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%, which is a high for the franchise and is performing significantly better than 28 Years Later from the year prior.
28 Days Later, released in 2002, was one of the major roles that put Murphy on the map, leading to some of his more notable roles, including Peaky Blinders, Oppenheimer, Inception, and Batman Begins. Not only is Murphy reprising his role as Jim in the zombie franchise, but he’s also reprising his role as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, releasing this year.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is putting zombie movies on the map once again, and also reviving a classic British franchise while paying homage to the movies that came before. Murphy’s return could pave the way for future movies and potentially include the actor in a more central role in more additions to the franchise.
- Release Date
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January 16, 2026
- Runtime
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109 Minutes
- Director
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Nia DaCosta
- Producers
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Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, Peter Rice
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Jack O’Connell
Jimmy Crystal
