Ralph Fiennes reveals plot details of ’28 Years Later’

After months of speculation, we’ve finally got some idea about the plot of the long-awaited sequel to 2007’s 28 Weeks Later courtesy of star Ralph Fiennes.

Fiennes, currently garnering raves in Conclave, spilled the zombie tea on 28 Years Later, including details of his character, a doctor.

“It’s three films, of which two have been shot,” Fiennes told IndieWire. “Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother. He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them hiding in forests and hills and woods are the infected. But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good.”

28 Years Later also stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and reprising his star-making role from 2002’s 28 Days Later, Cillian Murphy.

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Tom Rothman, the chairman of Sony Motion Pictures Group, confirmed back in May that Murphy would return for 28 Years Later, but teased it would be “in a surprising way and in a way that grows.”

Danny Boyle will return to direct, with a script co-written with Alex Garland, the same duo behind 28 Days Later. Its 2007 sequel, however, was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with a script he co-wrote with Rowan Joffé, Enrique López Lavigne, and Jesus Olmo. Murphy was also absent from that film.

Fiennes, a two-time Oscar nominee, is currently starring in Conclave, based on the 2016 Robert Harris novel of the same name. Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence, tasked with running the covert process of selecting the next Pope after the unexpected death of the current one. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church. 

In an “A-” review from Entertainment Weekly, Fiennes is credited with anchoring the thriller and “bringing an elegant world-weariness to a man wrestling with the institution and its faults. He advocates for doubt over certainty and preaches the importance of a diversity of expression and acceptance of faiths.”

The film features an all-star cast including Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini as a scene-stealing nun. Conclave opened this weekend to $6.5 million at the box office. Fiennes will next be seen in The Return, releasing Dec. 6 this year, as Odysseus of Greek myth.