Director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland (director of one of the best AI movies, “Ex-Machina”), and Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy are doing a great job bringing a post-apocalyptic world back to life with the “28 Days Later” franchise. However, a few years after making what would become an essential zombie movie with “28 Days Later,” the three collaborated on a do-or-die mission in space, joined by a cast of stars-in-the-making in “Sunshine.”
In the pantheon of movies that house interstellar terror like “Alien,” “Event Horizon,” and “2001: A Space Odyssey,” it’s the 2007 “Sunshine” that, ironically, didn’t spend anywhere near enough time in the spotlight as it should’ve.
“Sunshine” follows Murphy as a physicist named Capa, who sets out on a perilous voyage, along with a crew of brave astronauts, to reignite the sun as Earth faces mass extinction. Murphy’s character, who mans the bomb set to give the sun its necessary juice, is joined by a young Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, Mark Strong, and Hiroyuki Sanada of “Shōgun” fame. Initially, the film wasn’t met with the warmest reception, and it still sits at 77% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, over time, the film has gained cult status and is widely regarded as a great sci-fi horror film, courtesy of its visceral third act. But fans’ reception of “Sunshine” wasn’t enough for Boyle and Garland to expand and explore an idea they had that would’ve given the world of “Sunshine” a few more stories to tell.
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland had plans for Sunshine sequels
Not to go into spoiler territory for anyone that hasn’t seen the (checks notes) 19-year-old film, but it’s hard to imagine anything following on from “Sunshine,” which rounds things off pretty nicely. Nevertheless, it turns out that Alex Garland had plans for more adventures beyond the stars, after mapping out a trilogy that would carry on from Murphy’s mission to heat things up a bit.
In an interview with Collider, Boyle confessed that his creative partner had two chapters in mind that never came to fruition. “It was a planetary trilogy,” he explained. “It was to do with the sun itself, with two other stories. What’s interesting is Alex has a natural instinct as a storyteller to want to tell these expanding stories, and that is why ’28 Years Later’ wound up as a trilogy.”
From there, Boyle’s details got a little sketchy, which is understandable after almost two decades. He did give a few morsels on what a story after “Sunshine” could’ve looked like, though. “It’s kind of Elon Musk scale, even though he’s lost a lot of credibility. But it was interplanetary stuff; it had more to do with that,” Boyle added. His final cryptic note was that it was all about “the idea of looking outside and moving,” whatever that means. Regardless of the plans that never ignited, though, at least “Sunshine” still has some life left in it and has some fans even now. If you are in need of something a little more recent, you should watch one of the best sci-fi movies of 2025.
