Aaron Taylor-Johnson to reportedly star in ’28 Years Later’

Aaron Taylor-Johnson has reportedly been cast in 28 Years Later.

• READ MORE: ’28 Days Later’ at 20: Danny Boyle and Cillian Murphy on why it wouldn’t get made today

Per a Deadline Hollywood report, Taylor-Johnson has boarded the project and will star alongside Ralph Fiennes and Jodie Comer, who joined the film earlier this month. Little is known of their roles or the film’s plot points at this point.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been rumoured to be cast as the next James Bond. However, the actor has not directly confirmed or denied the rumours, and at an event earlier this week, even swerved a question about the 007 gig.

28 Years Later, first announced earlier this year, will be directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, both of whom led the original 2002 film.

Earlier this month, World of Reel published an article reporting that Fiennes and Comer had joined the cast along with Charlie Hunnam and Cillian Murphy – the latter of whom starred in the 2002 film. World of Reel has since updated its article to note Hunnam being replaced by Taylor-Johnson, and has walked back confirmation of Murphy’s return to the franchise.

Speaking to NME in 2022 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 28 Days Later, Murphy and Boyle said that they had often spoken about a follow-up to their hit zombie flick. While Murphy said he’s now too old for it, Boyle revealed that Garland had written a script titled 28 Months Later a few years ago but nothing came of it.

Boyle said at the time: “I’d be very tempted [to direct it]. It feels like a very good time actually. It’s funny, I hadn’t thought about it until you just said it, and I remembered ‘Bang, this script!’ which is again set in England, very much about England. Anyway, we’ll see… who knows?”

It’s been reported that 28 Years Later will be a new trilogy for the franchise, with Boyle set to direct the first of the three films, while Garland writes all three. The budget for each film in the trilogy, per The Hollywood Reporter, is currently USD $75million.

The original film secured a sequel in 2007, 28 Weeks Later, though Boyle and Garland only executive-produced this project.