Danny Boyle has delivered the news that fans of the infected world have been hoping for: the third chapter of the saga is happening, Alex Garland has already written the script, and Cillian Murphy is set to play a major part in it. Speaking at the Zurich Film Festival, Boyle said he’s confident the film will get made, even if he can’t say exactly when cameras will start rolling. In his words, the project, whether it ends up called 28 YEARS 3 or something else entirely, will happen because people keep asking about it, and the script Garland has produced is a very good one.

Then came the detail that should have longtime devotees buzzing. Boyle promised there will be a lot of Murphy in the film, while joking that he doesn’t know whether the actor will be stripping down again, given that he now has an Oscar to his name.

It’s a thrilling prospect when you remember where all of this began. Murphy played Jim in Boyle’s 2002 horror classic 28 DAYS LATER, waking from a coma to find Britain devastated by the Rage Virus. Jim was our eyes and ears in that terrifying new reality, and his journey helped make the film one of the defining horror pictures of its era.

Boyle even had a funny memory of shooting that film, admitting he was caught completely off guard by Murphy’s physique. He recalled being unable to believe what he was seeing, likening the young actor to Iggy Pop, all glistening and effortless, a man who doesn’t work out and simply looks that way.

What excites me most is the chance to see Murphy properly return to the role. Jim is the beating heart of this franchise, and after everything this world has endured, I’m fascinated to see how the intervening years have shaped him. What kind of man is he now? What has he had to do to survive? How much of the person we met in 28 DAYS LATER is still in there? We caught a small taste of that in 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE, but this next film has the room to explore him fully.

There’s a rich history tied to Jim, and reconnecting with him could give the ending real emotional weight, bringing the whole story full circle to the character who started it all.