Cillian Murphy’s Surprise New Project: What the Oppenheimer & Peaky Blinders Star Is Doing Next

Irish actor Cillian Murphy is back in the headlines this week after a flurry of festival appearances, viral trailer chatter and a candid new interview that reveals what’s next for the Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” and “Peaky Blinders” star. At the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, Murphy walked the red carpet for “Steve,” a gritty psychological drama financed by Netflix and directed by frequent collaborator Tim Mielants (“Peaky Blinders”). Early buzz from TIFF positions the performance as another potential awards-season contender, with critics praising the 49-year-old for “paring his intensity down to a raw nerve” in the role of a burned-out schoolteacher on the edge of collapse. Murphy’s festival stop coincides with renewed excitement for the long-awaited zombie sequel “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.” Fans briefly believed a gaunt silhouette in the teaser belonged to the Irishman, but Murphy set the record straight in a light-hearted talk with The Observer, admitting his teenage son had to show him the online speculation because he’s “chronically offline.” “That’s great—people think I look like a zombie cadaver,” he joked, adding that he will, in fact, reprise bicycle-messenger-turned-survivor Jim when principal photography begins early next year. Meanwhile, cinephiles wondering whether the actor will reunite with Christopher Nolan anytime soon finally have an answer. Murphy confirmed he is “sitting out” the director’s ambitious mythological epic “The Odyssey,” quipping that he’s experiencing “ROMO—relief of missing out” after headlining back-to-back Nolan pictures. “I’m thrilled to watch it as a fan and not worry about weight loss or quantum physics for once,” he told Variety. The admission has only amplified curiosity about where Murphy’s career heads next: insiders say he is eyeing an Irish civil-war miniseries and a stage return in London’s West End. Social media has amplified every twist. On X, the hashtag #CillianMurphy racked up over 120 million impressions in 24 hours as users dissected his TIFF look—an oversized charcoal suit paired with trademark tousled hair—and debated whether his Jim could anchor an entire “28 Years Later” trilogy. TikTok edits of Murphy’s press-tour moments are already accumulating millions of likes, underscoring his sustained pop-culture magnetism more than two decades after “28 Days Later” redefined modern horror. SEO-friendly conclusion: With “Steve” generating Oscar whispers, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” primed to reignite the iconic zombie franchise, and a deliberate pause from Nolan’s orbit, Cillian Murphy proves again that he controls the tempo of his career—and the internet simply follows.