Cillian Murphy says he’s down to star in 28 Months Later now that the script is finally finished.
As the actor said down to reflect on the iconic horror franchise amid its 20th Anniversary, Murphy revealed he's constantly reminded by director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland that the trilogy needs to be completed.
He told NME: “I think there’s a problem with that, in that I’m 20 years older… But every time I do bump into Danny or Alex I always mention it.
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"Because I showed it to my kids recently, some Halloween about four or five years ago, and they loved it.
"It really stands up, which is amazing for a film that’s 20 years old. So yeah, I love the idea and it’s very appealing to me.”
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The actor also shared his tumultuous audition process for the film.
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While Murphy is known for having an ear for accents, given his impressive body of work, he couldn’t quite master an English accent during his initial screen tests.
He said: “Jim was written as English – and I was doing a terrible London accent [in the audition]. It wasn’t really connecting but Danny kept asking me back, which was really nice.”
He added: “I was in awe of Danny, having grown up on [his films Shallow Grave and Trainspotting], you know, before I was ever an actor.
"Then they said ‘just play him Irish’ and when I played him Irish, I kind of unlocked something."
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In the same interview, Boyle expressed that he's interested in directing the third instalment; however, he noted that it's becoming increasingly harder to make people flock to the cinemas in the age of streaming.
But he believes a third film might just intrigue people enough.
Watch this space.
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The first film, which was released in 2002, earned a staggering USD $85.7 million (AUD $134.9m or £75m), despite only having a budget of USD $8 million (AUD $12.5m or £7m).
It follows Jim (played by Murphy), a bike courier in Great Britain, who wakes up from a coma only to find that a zombie-like virus has absolutely ravaged his city, with only a few survivors remaining.
Following the success, the sequel 28 Weeks Later was released in 2007 to rave reviews and garnered USD $65.8 million (AUD $103m or £57m) at the box office.
Fingers crossed, studios can grant us another flick.
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