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Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Ralph Fiennes To Star In ‘28 Years Later’ For Danny Boyle And Sony Pictures

EXCLUSIVE: The new 28 Years Later trilogy from director Danny Boyle and Sony Pictures is gaining momentum, and some serious star power. Sources tell Deadline that Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have boarded the first pic, a sequel to the original 28 Days Later.

Boyle is directing the first movie from a script by Alex Garland. Sony will release the film in theaters globally.

While plot details are vague, the original 28 Days Later in 2002 centered on a bicycle courier (played by Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to discover the world had been overrun with zombies following the outbreak of a virus. The pic grossed more than $82 million worldwide and led to a 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, on which Boyle and Garland served solely as EPs.

Deadline recently broke the news that the studio has already tapped Candyman director Nia DaCosta to helm the second part of the trilogy, and that the plan is to shoot both films back to back. As for the three newest cast members, the studio is clearly showing it means business, adding star power instead of going the lesser-known-actor route like in previous installments.

Boyle and Garland are also producing 28 Years Later, as is original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice. Bernie Bellew is also producing. Murphy is also returning as an executive producer.

Following her star-making and Emmy-winning role in Killing Eve, Comer has stayed busy on the feature film side, starring in such films as Free Guy opposite Ryan Reynolds and in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel. Next up, she can be seen in Focus Features’ The Bikeriders opposite Tom Hardy and Austin Butler.

For Taylor-Johnson, the job continues his strong partnership with Sony following a scene-stealing role in Bullet Train as well as the upcoming Marvel pic Kraven the Hunter. Next up, he’s in the Universal tentpole The Fall Guy that bows next week and also stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. He also has Focus’ gothic horror pic Nosferatu bowing this Christmas.

The Oscar-nominated Fiennes is currently finishing a 4-city International run of the sold out play, Macbeth in Washington, DC. The play was performed in Liverpool, London, and Edinburgh to sold out audiences in every city and to rave reviews He finishes his run in DC on May 5th. This fall he stars in two films, Conclave directed Edward Berger which will be released by Focus features and The Return directed by Uberto Pasolini opposite Juliette Binoche which will be released by Bleecker street.

Comer is repped by Independent Talent Group, WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Fiennes is repped by 42 and CAA. Johnson is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and David Weber.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Rumored to Have Been Offered Role as Next James Bond

Is Aaron Taylor-Johnson going to be the next James Bond?

A new report from U.K. newspaper The Sun, claims the British actor, 33, is set to take over the role from Daniel Craig, who played the character for 15 years.

The outlet reported that insiders said Taylor-Johnson will sign the contract this week after he was formally offered the role.

PEOPLE has contacted representatives for Taylor-Johnson and the James Bond franchise for comment.

“Bond is Aaron’s job, should he wish to accept it. The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back,” a source reportedly told The Sun.

“Aaron is going to sign his contract in the coming days and they can start preparing for the big announcement,” the insider added.

Rumors that Taylor-Johnson would be the next James Bond began swirling following Daniel Craig’s exit. However, the Marvel actor — who is married to director Sam Taylor-Johnson — dodged the claims during an interview with Esquire in 2023 by stating he had “to go by the beat of my own drum.”

“It’s my own path, what feels intuitive to me,” he added. “I’ve never made a decision based on other people’s perspectives, or their judgments, or their expectations of me.” Craig, 56, revealed in 2019 that No Time To Die, which was released in 2021, would be his last James Bond movie.

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Craig confirmed that he was laying down Bond’s Walther PPK after Colbert asked, “Are you done with Bond,” to which Craig replied, “Yes.”

“It’s done,” he added.

The actor also opened up to The Sunday Times in 2019 about his journey being James Bond.

“This may be hard to believe but I love the fact I’m Bond,” he said at the time. “We’re in rare air, making Bond movies. It is one of the most intense, fulfilling things I’ve ever done, but it takes a lot of energy and I’m getting old. I’m getting creaky.”

Meanwhile, in October 2023, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli spoke about the future of the franchise following Craig’s exit.

“I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that,” she told The Guardian at the time.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Strips It Back

Aaron Taylor-Johnson wears many hats. The 32-year-old is an actor (since he was six years old), a father and husband, an occasional model, and when we hop on a call to talk about his latest campaign for Calvin Klein, an IT guy, too.

There’s a good ten or so minutes where the connection between my end in New York and his end in London is off. His voice is crackly and distorted, and we try to power through before Taylor-Johnson devises a quick solution: He hops off the conference platform, reconnects via a phone call, and is back in the game. “Is this any better?” he asks. It’s a thousand times better.

I’ve caught Taylor-Johnson in a time that he describes as “busy.” The week before, he was in Australia, where he’s been since the beginning of the year, finishing up shoots on The Fall Guy. Now, he’s just touched down in London, where he’s doing additional shoots on Kraven the Hunter before heading out to Prague to shoot Nosferatu. Between all of this, he’s making his debut in a Calvin Klein campaign for the brand’s spring 2023 collection, sporting jaw-grazing hair, boxer briefs, a denim jacket (sans shirt), and snazzy jeans—all with the kind of energetic magnetism that translates seamlessly from the big screen.

“I felt absolutely honored and flattered to have been invited to be a part of Calvin Klein’s men’s underwear,” he says. “I felt incredibly safe in the hands of Mert [Alas] and Marcus [Piggott], who I think are equally iconic photographers.”

The campaign is definitively stripped-back: no frills, no props, no color, even. Alongside fellow Calvin Klein ambassadors Michael B. Jordan, FKA Twigs, Kendall Jenner, and JENNIE, Taylor-Johnson is expressive and acrobatic; on his knees in one shot, standing tall in the next, a statue caught in contrapposto.

“I was almost taking that vulnerability and putting it into confidence,” he says. “It was great fun. I think there’s a level of nerves and expectations when you’re going to be photographed in your underwear, but quite honestly, I’ve only ever worn Calvins, so I just felt honored and thrilled to be part of it.”

Calvin Klein, a brand iconic in its simplicity, its minimalism, its timeless style, is a natural fit for Taylor-Johnson. In the same way that—and bear with this metaphor—underwear are the foundation upon which an outfit is built, Taylor-Johnson’s adaptability, his readiness to step into any role and play any character, is the heart and soul of his career. He describes his own style as “classic”: a pair of jeans, a nice white tee, and boots. Something versatile. Something comfortable. Something that is reliably unchanging.

“I tend to enjoy fashion and dressing up more through characters, when I’m getting ready for a role or I’m in the process of doing something,” he says. “That’s always a part of how I build characters. I work on the psychology, but I also work on the layering and the skin that they wear on the outside as well.”

Taylor-Johnson has worn the skin of a few centuries’ worth of men; he’s been a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, sporting vintage ‘50s get-ups that he likes best of all his characters’ wardrobes. He’s been an ostracized Russian socialite in Anna Karenina. And most recently, in Bullet Train, he’s been a deadly assassin, equal parts brutally lethal and charmingly witty, with a mustache as killer as his profession.

Taylor-Johnson laughs when I bring up that ‘stache, sharing that it was a stroke of his own genius—and pandemic-induced experimentation. “It was that facial hair boredom,” he says. “I just got very creative with trying different characters and looks. For that character, I think I tried two or three different beards, and I wore them for a week each. I got a lot of feedback from my family—they all think I’m ludicrously nuts.”

The result, fortunately, looked less than ludicrous, and more like the facial hair of a classy, gentleman killer. It’s a hard look to pull off, but Taylor-Johnson, with his classical features, does it effortlessly and confidently. It seems that’s how he does most things, though.

“I definitely feel like I’m someone who can express myself better in movement than I can in words, which is why I feel more comfortable as a performer,” he says. Things like dance bring him confidence; he finds himself drawn to nature, tells me he finds inspiration from being immersed in it as much as possible, and has taken an interest in regenerative farming and rewilding.

“The lessons you get from just seeing nature just do its thing—it’s really just this sitting back and observing situation, watching and listening and learning and wanting to evolve and grow,” he says. At this point, more than any other, I find myself glad Taylor-Johnson was able to play IT guy and fix the audio at the beginning of our call—the profound passion wouldn’t have been so palpable in his voice otherwise.

“I’m excited by many things, by many people around me,” he says. “But when you’re starting to observe more is when you can really have a chance to…grow.”

AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON BEING CONSIDERED AS NEXT BOND … Names Are A-Flying!!!

It seems producers of the James Bond franchise aren’t ready to make up their minds on exactly who they have their sights set on — now Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s in the mix.

The British actor — famous for his role in “Kick-Ass” and, more recently, “Bullet Train” — is reported to have had a meeting with Barbara Broccoli in September … and not just that, he even did a screen test that went well, according to Daily Mail and Puck News.

The screen test is said to have been part of a full-blown audition Aaron apparently did for Barbara and co. — and it sounds like everyone was impressed with what they saw. Word is … they had ATJ do the iconic gun barrel opening sequence, which is a huge deal obviously.

The reports say Aaron is now a front-runner, but that nothing is official yet. This is a major development from the news that came out this past weekend — when “Emily in Paris” star Lucien Laviscount was said to have been in the running as well and also considered a favorite.

There’ve been a lot of names thrown around over the past several months, but Aaron’s the first one who’s gotten on camera to try his hand at Bond … as far as we’ve heard at least.

We’ll say this about Aaron … he’s got the Bond vibe. But, so does every other strapping gent that’s been floated!

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is ‘top choice to become the next James Bond after impressing bosses in secret audition’

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is allegedly the top choice to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond, after taking part in a secret screen test.

The actor, 32, is said to have impressed producer Barbara Broccoli during an audition at Pinewood Studios, where many of the franchise’s films have been filmed.

A source told The Sun: ‘Aaron went for a screen test to be the next Bond in September and producers and Barbara loved him. He is now one of the front-runners.’ Aaron, who is married to Fifty Shades Of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson, 55, has starred in the Kick-Ass movies, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Godzilla.

He started out in the 2001 series Armadillo before featuring in The Bill and Casualty, and securing his big break in the 2009 John Lennon biopic, Nowhere Boy. MailOnline has contacted Aaron’s representatives for comment.

It follows reports that Idris Elba walked away from ‘years of talks’ with movie bosses to become the next James Bond, paving the way for a new 007.

Bookmakers William Hill subsequently placed Henry Cavill at the forefront with 5/2, Regé Jean-Page with odds of 4/1, followed by Tom Hardy and James Norton both with 6/1 and Chiwetel Ejiofor at 7/1.

Aaron and Sam recently took to Instagram as they both shared a rare sweet snap with one another.

Giving an insight into family life, the married couple admitted it was taken by their 10-year-old daughter Romy Hero.

The pair, who have a 23 year age gap, are also parents to 12-year-old Wylda Rae, while filmmaker Sam has two older daughters – Angelica, 25; and Jessie, 16.

The couple nailed a authentic chic look in the shot, with Bullet Train star Aaron sporting a pair of Hunter welly boots with khaki trousers.

He paired the outdoorsy look with a beige T-shirt and gold leaf necklace, sitting behind his wife on a step.

Sitting in between her husband’s legs was Solos producer-director Sam, as she opted for a pair of brown knee high boots.She added a pair of black leggings and a dark shirt from brand God’s True Cashmere to finish the low-key look.

Sam’s bright blonde locks were left to fall freely in a tousled style, as the star appeared make-up free while she and her beau gazed at the camera.

‘When your 10 yr old takes the best picture ❤️,’ captioned the beauty as she accredited Romy.

The couple tied the knot back in 2012, after meeting in 2009 on the set of film Nowhere Boy – which starred Aaron and was directed by Sam.

They welcomed their first child Wylda in 2010, and Romy two years later, while Sam has her two elder daughters Angelica and Jessie from her 11-year marriage to art dealer Jay Jopling, which ended in 2008.

And sharing a loved up snap to celebrate ten years of marriage back in June, Sam dubbed her husband ‘father to all 4 girls.’

’10 glorious years. My incredible husband, father to all 4 girls. I love you, I love you, I love you. love conquers all,’ she wrote,

In honour of the marriage milestone, the pair decided to renew their ‘vows and confess our love in front of our nearest and dearest friends and family.’

‘It was a magical unforgettable day and the sun did not stop shining on us both,’ Aaron gushed on Instagram.

‘We are blessed beyond belief. Sammy you are my love, my life, my soulmate, my wife, my world!’