It's finally ready: The CillianSite, cilliansite.com.

And so I bid a final sad farewell to the wonderful, but now inactive cillianONLINE, hoping you'll come by and check out The CillianSite.

Cheers,
Melty_Girl

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First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the constant support of every single fan that has visited this website over the past years. It will never go unnoticed or unappreciated.

I know that you all have been wondering what is going on with the site lately. People have began to formulate their own hypotheses over why this site has went dead as of lately. I can assure you that the reason has nothing to do with our (meaning MG and I) interest and appreciation for Cillian Murphy. The real reason lies with an issue of time and effort. Since school began and mixed with my own work schedule, I have had no time to dedicate to this site anymore. I am at school for 12 hours a day sometimes and for those of you that have had experiences working on websites, you can fully understand me when I say that a website takes an amazing amount of effort. Apart from the hours of site work that I put into the pages, MG was left to do most of the updating when I wasn't around, which was never fair to her.

After keeping in touch via e-mail and discussing the situation, MG and I have decided to go our separate ways. I am closing down cillianONLINE. This decision is extremely hard on me because the site does mean so much to me. But, unless a miracle comes around, I don't think there will be any way of changing my mind. Additionally, MG has decided to create her own fansite, which should be opening fairly soon. I hope that you all will show her your love and support in her own project, just as you showed both of us in this project.

Again, we thank you all for the support you've shown.

If you care to get in touch with me, I will still be running the CM Fan Forum and my account will still be active on there. Please bookmark the CM Fan Forum, if you haven't already.

I'd love to keep in touch with you all.

Love, Shannon.

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News.com.au is the first online outlet to break the news that Cillian just won Actor of the Year at Britain's 'GQ' Man of the Year Awards. How exciting to see him recognized for his work in 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley' and 'Breakfast on Pluto'!


Cillian attended the 'GQ' ceremony alongside illustrious winners like Ricky Gervais (Comedian of the Year), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Lab Series Man of the Year), Justin Timberlake (International Man of the Year), and Keane (Band of the Year). Looks like his 'Intermission' co-star Kelly MacDonald may have presented his award.


Thanks to Jackie for the tip on the photos!

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Someone called Hel was kind enough to drop by and give us the specifics on the Melbourne Q & A session that Cillian's doing in support of 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley.' The Kino Dendy Cinema boasts, "Meet acclaimed actor Cillian Murphy at our exclusive Q & A and preview screening" of 'Barley'... on "Thursday, 14th September, 6.30 pm."

Call now for tickets at +61 3 9650 2100, because they're selling fast! See the Kino Dendy's locations page for their address and parking info.

Please email me about your experience if you attend! We just might post your story right here at cillianONLINE.

Thanks to Hel for the tip!

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Australian journalist Helen Barlow, whose recent piece in the 'Courier-Mail' mentioned that Cillian squeaked a rubber ducky baby toy during her interview with him in Berlin, is back with another version of the story in the 'Sidney Morning Herald'. Her lead sounds as adoring as something one of us might write:

With blue translucent eyes that dazzle the camera like few others, Cillian Murphy can portray a brooding sensitivity yet be romantic, loveable and downright horrible. He's the hottest acting talent to come out of Ireland since Colin Farrell and he has a lot more range.

Barlow goes on to ask Cillian about 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' and Australian actor Rose Byrne:

"The fallout from the war of independence and the civil war still resonates today and you realise what side your family was on," Murphy says.

"When my grandfather was playing music with a lot of his buddies underneath a tree and then the Black and Tans [British troops] came along and shot at them randomly, the bullet went into the tree. If he'd been a better marksman I might have not been here. I had a cousin who was killed. Cork was the most militarised area of the country and the rebellion was strongest there."

...During our interview, Murphy squeaks a rubber duck given to him as a present for his baby son. He is hung over, having brought over a gaggle of his mates from Dublin to the Berlin Film Festival. They had rung up quite a bill at his swanky hotel - to the dismay of the Hollywood honchos, who are trying to get him to talk to the press.

Murphy's next big movie is the sci-fi epic 'Sunshine,' in which he is sent to reignite the dying sun. He co-stars with Australia's Rose Byrne. Is there any hanky-panky going on?

"I'm not gonna tell you, but she's brilliant, though. I love Rose. She's a fantastic actress."

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Watch out Australian fans: in mid-September, Cillian will be in Melbourne to promote 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley,' and according to the 'Herald Sun', the press aren't the only ones invited to the party:

Fans will be able to quiz the 30-year-old for details about his life growing up in County Cork when he takes part in a question-and-answer session amid his promotional work for new flick 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley.' Details of where and when the mid-September talkfest will be are still to be announced. Murphy... will also appear at a premiere in Sydney.

If you go to the Q & A, be sure to let us know how it goes!

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Another Australian profile has appeared in Brisbane's 'Courier-Mail', again based on an interview done at the Berlinale. Here's some fun excerpts from Helen Barlow's article:

The biggest acting name since Colin Farrell in Ireland and about as different from that actor as chalk is from cheese, Murphy is settled in his personal life but is far more adventurous in his movies. ...During this interview, Murphy, married to installation artist Yvonne McGuinness, squeaks a rubber duck that has been given to him as a present for their baby son. Later it emerges he was hung-over, having flown in some Dublin friends to his new film's Berlin Festival screening.

...Murphy used some fairly outrageous women's clothes for the film, which has been likened to 'Transamerica' in its more humane twist on gender-bending. But, he says, it all came down to the story.

"A lot of the recent gay-themed movies, like 'Capote' and 'Brokeback Mountain,' were inspired by novels and I think that says a lot," he notes. "It's very healthy that in America these themes are being embraced."

Did he try on his wife's underwear to get into the character?

"No I didn't," he responds with a cheesy grin. "You couldn't model it on your wife – that would be weird."

Also from Down Under: a feature on Ken Loach and the British controversy over 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' in 'The Australian'.

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In a red carpet interview videotaped at the premiere of his comedy troupe Broken Lizard's new movie 'Beerfest,' Paul Soter offered a tidbit about the plan for 'Watching the Detectives' and waxed rhapsodic about his gorgeous stars to About.com. Interviewer Rebecca Murray spoke with Soter about 'Beerfest,' then changed the subject:

About.com: You've got 'Watching the Detectives' too, right?

Soter: Yes, I just wrapped that two weeks ago. I'm very excited. I see the first assembly cut a day after tomorrow. And hopefully we'll be at Sundance this year, and it's a great movie. Cillian and Lucy were both funny and sexy -- [responds to interviewer's off-camera facial expression] I know! They're both -- put them onscreen together and like, the bone structure is just... it's like, distracting. Like, I'm going to have to figure out some way that people aren't just going to stare at their jawlines. It's incredible, yeah, so...

About.com: You're hoping for Sundance?

Soter: That's the plan. You know, they've always been big supporters of our movies and so we have a good relationship, and it's, you know, it's a mainstream comedy, but it's very stylish. It's a film lover's movie, so I feel like Sundance would be the best place for it. So I'll keep my fingers crossed, and we'll see what happens.

The Sundance Film Festival is held annually in January, although films are often put into general release months later.

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MonstersAndCritics.com has the first mention I've seen of a specific date and venue for the North American premiere of 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' at the Toronto International Film Festival: September 7th, at the Ryerson Theatre. Anne Brodie reports that "Loach and Murphy are expected to attend." Will you be there too?

For more info about 'Barley' screenings, keep your eyes peeled to the official TIFF site schedule page. Tomorrow, they will release the gala schedule and complete film list, and on August 29th, they will publish the complete schedule for the fest.

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SuicideGirls.com has a Q & A with writer/director/actor-comedian Paul Soter about 'Watching the Dectectives,' and it boasts more plot information. Here's some of how Soter described the movie:

"Cillian plays this guy who runs his own mom and pop video store. He is a couch potato and film noir buff and a guy who would rather be watching a baseball game than playing in a baseball game. Lucy Liu is this character who shows up in the store and has the exact opposite philosophy. Her feeling is, if you like movies and you like adventure, then that’s the way you should live. You shouldn’t sit around and watch movies where people get in trouble and chase people. You should just live that way. So it’s wish fulfillment gone crazy. Lucy embodies a character that really threatens to destroy Cillian’s life because it’s hardly possible to live your life as if you were in a movie.

"Lucy’s... constantly trying to keep him on unstable footing so she told him that there’s this bald unpredictable violent ex-boyfriend who chases her from town to town whenever she moves. Now he’s seeing big bald guys everywhere. He goes out to get a newspaper and there’s a bald guy out there. He goes in the video store and there’s a bald customer that’s very suspicious. Today we’re shooting him in a movie theatre and there’s a guy sitting behind him, a big obnoxious bald guy. It ends up being 'Cape Fear' with that idea of the big obnoxious guy sitting behind you ruining your good time in the movies. ...This guy loves movies and what this woman is doing to him is turning his life into series of scenes from movies and it sounds like it would be perfect but it starts to really drive him crazy.

"It is heavy on the film noir... There is this scene where he gets interrogated by these two detectives and it’s a good cop and a bad cop. It’s a very classic interrogation from the films of the 40’s and 50’s. For the most part, these scenes that he ends up getting sucked into have a very film noir feel to them."

Thanks to Jackie for the news tip and LiveJournal's Verstand for the pic!

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As Shannon blogged here back in March, Irish actor Brendan Gleeson ('28 Days Later...', 'Breakfast on Pluto,' 'Cold Mountain') has adapted the Flann O’Brien book 'At Swim-Two-Birds' for the screen, and if the project gets green-lighted, Cillian wants a role.

Still no definite word on this intriguing project, but today, actor Gabriel Byrne has been touted throughout the Irish press as being "eager to star in a movie that will bring together the cream of Irish screen talent." The Thomas Crosbie wire story dangles these enticing possibilities:

If it gets made, the film will unite Byrne with Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as well as Brendan Gleeson, who has written the screenplay. Director John Boorman has also expressed an interest in the project.

Speaking about the young stars, Byrne, 56, said: “They’re talented actors and the whole country is very proud of them. It will be the first time the older generation and the younger generation have come together to do a classic Irish novel.”

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First, the good news: according to Reuters, IFC Entertainment just bought the US distribution rights for 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'!

Now, the bad news: just as frequent cillianONLINE commenter Jackie predicted, we're looking at a Spring 2007 release. Reporter Gregg Goldstein does note, however, that "an Oscar-qualifying one-week release for the film is being discussed," which means mid-to-late December.


IFC is releasing 'Barley' as part of IFC First Take, which uses a new, so-called "day-and-date" strategy of releasing films in theaters and on cable at the same time. You may remember that IFC kicked off this somewhat controversial program in March with Steven Soderbergh's fascinating little pic, 'Bubble.' (More info here.) This new practice has caused feuding among entertainment companies, with some refusing to screen each other's day-and-date releases in theaters, but peace talks are currently underway, and 'Barley' is unlikely to get caught in the corporate crossfire over this new business model.

Why is IFC giving 'Barley' a day-and-date release?

"['Barley'] could have gone either way" as either a traditional IFC Films theatrical release or as part of the innovative First Take slate, IFC vice president marketing Ryan Werner said. "But it's a great symbol of the kind of prestigious film we want for the program. It shows people that we're not just putting any film in First Take. We also wanted it to reach the widest possible audience."

He added that though the film has done well overseas, Loach's films usually don't attract significant business at the U.S. box office, which was another factor in the decision to take the day-and-date route.

This is the good news that Cillian Murphy fans in America have been waiting for! But what about Canada?

PSsssst... cillianONLINE is now listed at the fun and fabulous fansite directories Clago.com and Starpulse.com.

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Barring reshoots, 'Watching the Detectives' is leaving the New York metro area. MovieWeb.com reports that principal photography has been completed.

In other news, 'Breakfast on Pluto' was just released Down Under, so reviews have been popping up lately. It may have been a bit Northern Hemicentric of me, but I haven't been blogging about these reviews, simply because I think most Cillian fans have read oodles of 'Pluto' reviews by now. But Melbourne's Sunday The Age' is running a cool feature story on Cillian. Stephanie Bunbury interviewed him in Berlin, where he shared his usual down-to-earth perspective on the bright lights:

"If you can leave behind one film that people consider art, then I'm happy. Just one." He is ambitious, he says, but not about specific targets. "I don't have a plan. It's about quality of life as well. There is much more to my life then just being an actor, you know. Because this is all a bit crazy. It's not real life, is it?" He waves his hand, brushing away both the Berlin hotel where we are speaking and the whole gilded nonsense of the movies. "Great, but not real life. You just have to insist on that."

Bunbury also got some interesting quotes from Cillian that speak to the difference between transvestites and transgendered women:

Kitten, according to Murphy, was the most difficult role he has played. Damien, his character in 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley,' could be a 1917 version of Murphy himself: quiet, focused, strong-minded. Kitten Braden, on the other hand, is all artifice. Murphy... researched for the role exhaustively. He was about to represent a character whose way of life was a closed book to him. He knew that he would have to transform his every gesture to do it.

"Out of respect for that community, if you are going to portray a member of that community, you need to see what their lives are like," he says. "But I learned more from looking at women, to be honest, because I wanted the character to be feminine, not camp or queenie. She's not doing it for anybody else but herself: it is a form of self-expression. Therefore, it must be organic. There isn't an on and off. She is like that all the time."

The transvestite impulse remains a mystery to him. But that doesn't matter. Ultimately, he says, he doesn't have to share any specific experience of the characters he plays. "All I have to do is understand how the mind works and to not judge. Because everyone can understand pain and the need to feel love. That is a kind of universal need, you know. I come from a close family. To not have a family must be a terrible thing; to not feel secure and feel loved."

But Murphy also came to understand something of the pleasure of dressing as a woman. "It's very nice to look pretty. No matter we tell each other we aren't, everyone's vain. So it's quite nice to look nice. And you get into that - all the products, the grooming, the plucking and shaving. All that stuff becomes part of a routine and it's not unpleasant at all."

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Another lucky New Yorker reported a humorous Cillian sighting to Gawker Stalker:

Cillian Murphy
103 PRINCE ST
Aug 8th, 2006 @ 1pm
Saw Cillian Murphy as I was walking out of the SoHo Apple store with a woman (wife?) and child, wearing a Blossom-like hat -- Cillian, not the kid. My friend said, "Did you see Jonathan Rhys Meyers with his baby?"

Oh dear. Well, at least the photo Gawker ran wasn't Dr. Crane yet again -- he has done more than just 'Batman Begins,' after all. They went with one of the nice 'Intermission' promo pics.

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A Cillian movie has bested a Cillian movie: with a gross of €2.7 million, 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' now holds the all-time Irish box office record for the highest grossing Irish-made independent film, topping 'Intermission''s €2.5 million. (Source: The Irish Film Board via RTE). In fact, it's the #4 film of the year in Ireland so far, even beating out 'Mission Impossible III.' (Source: Unison.ie.) And as I reported previously, it's director Ken Loach's biggest hit ever. Since its debut at Cannes, this rebellious underdog of a movie just keeps on surprising everyone. Can't wait to see it... But. Will. Have. To.

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The MyMovies.net 'Barley' page has a director/cast interview video that I hadn't seen before (the link is at the bottom of the page). It's brief, but Cillian is quite talkative and looks "boyishly attractive in a big sweater and a stripey top," as Jackie put it when alerting us to this nice clip. There's some great discussion of weapons training, history and politics with Cillian, Padraic Delaney and director Ken Loach.


Thanks to Jackie for the tip!

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Cillian's 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' love interest, Orla Fitzgerald, is currently appearing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and 'The Scotsman' has an interview with her that includes an amusing remark about our fave. [WARNING: the article itself contains a major 'Barley' spoiler.]

Fitzgerald's professional debut came eight years ago in the revived production of Enda Walsh's 'Disco Pigs' at Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms - a year too late to star opposite the original male lead, Cillian Murphy... "I would have known Cillian around Cork," she says. "He was a bit of a stud. He was in a band called The Sons of Mr Green Jeans and all the girls knew of him. He was a star in Cork before he went global."

A new 'Barley' trailer was cut to promote the film before its release in France on August 23rd, and it packs far more of the political context into its brief runtime. One version of the trailer is dubbed -- want to hear another actor recite Damien's pledge of allegiance to Ireland in French?! -- but there's also one with French subtitles. If you're getting as impatient as I am to see the film, and are hungry to see footage you haven't seen before, go to the Comme au Cinema 'Barley' page to see the new trailer and more clips. I hadn't seen two of the subtitled clips before: Extrait 1 VOST shows Damien witnessing Black and Tan violence at the train station, and Extrait 5 VOST is Damien and Teddy arguing about the Treaty and socialist politics.

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"Chalk and cheese" is an old British expression used "to suggest that two things, superficially alike, are really very
different in their qualities."* Today, Irish web portal Unison.ie has an intriguing article about Colin Farrell's career which includes media scholars weighing in on Colin's press strategy, and it includes a Colin-Cillian compare-and-contrast portion.

No matter which woman [Farrell]'s romancing, or what jape he's involved in, the press always seem to get wind of it, suggesting some ingenious media manipulation.

"It is one of the reasons why he's up there," agrees Dr Pat Brereton of DCU's School of Communications. "He has got a great publicity team and there is a connection between the mediation of his persona and his on-screen success."

Where once Farrell cut a lone Irish figure on the A-list, now he's been joined by Corkonian Cillian Murphy. But in terms of style and personality, it seems that there could not be more of a chasm between the two.

"They are chalk and cheese," adds Brereton. "They are the two polarities of actors who can both make it in Hollywood. But Cillian's star will rise and rise. He is an archetypal stage actor, driven by angst and always very unsure of himself; Colin has none of that. People see Colin Farrell as a kind of Joe Bloggs they could go for a pint with. And who wouldn't want to go for a pint with Colin Farrell?"

Sam Toy of 'Empire' agrees that the disparity between Colin and Cillian is worth noting: "Colin doesn't seem to mind the constant press and the intrusion into his private life. He actually doesn't seem to care. Cillian is a very different kettle of fish - he's a very, very shy man. And yet he gets the big roles. He's done 'Red Eye' and the Batman film and he's rumoured to return as the Scarecrow, but he's just as happy doing indie films. But then, I'm sure if you asked Colin Farrell to work with Ken Loach he'd jump at the chance, as would Cillian Murphy to work with ('Miami Vice' director) Michael Mann."

A quick box office note: 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' is still in the UK/Ireland top ten, but it's slipped down to ninth place. (Source: ITV News).

* Thanks to WorldWideWords.org for providing the "chalk and cheese" definition.

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According to the 'The Bayonne Community News', the fictional video store owned by Cillian's 'Watching the Detectives' character, film noir buff Neil, is very appropriately named Gumshoe Video, and it's located on Avenue C near 47th Street in Bayonne, New Jersey.

The video store looked so real even some locals thought it was a new store opening, until the movie stars showed up...

"This is one of our main film locations," [second assistant director Nick] Bell said during a break from shooting on the second day of what is expected to be a weeklong shoot... "The staff has been in here for about a month making the video store look like a video store."

...When asked why the company picked Bayonne for the production, [location manager Marshall?] Johnson said, "This is supposed to happen in 'Anytown.' Bayonne seems to fit what we needed since this is our main location." The production is being filmed in a section of Bayonne that still has the look and feel of post World War II era, with nearby stores still bearing signs and images that were typical of the 1950s and 1960s. Johnson said Bayonne also would provide several other locations including chase scenes down an alleyway near the local synagogue.

OK, tristate area folks: please let us know if you if visit the set! Email me if you like (just click my name below).

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Ain't It Cool News, a blog that presents "the best in movie, TV, DVD and comic book news," recently received an anonymous email from a film buff who says that he caught a secret showing of a rough cut of 'Sunshine' at Fox Studios in Los Angeles. This lucky guy, who goes by the charming pseudonym of "Evil Drunken Stepdad," sent AICN an interesting, if goofy, film review. His overall verdict:

"I thought this was a great film, but flawed. The great things about it were the cast, Cillian Murphy is as resplendent as ever [sic]... This is a great sci-fi film, but the suspense is what really kicks it over the edge into possible greatness. Coupled with Boyle’s direction style, this film comes out like '2001' on crack."

Some readers posted comments on the AICN page to protest that there's actually no "supernatural element" to this film, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see if Evil Drunken Stepdad's terminology is accurate. Other posters doubted his overall veracity, but today Gia from the 'Sunshine' team confirmed that they did indeed host an LA screening of a rough cut. They wanted only people without any prior interest in 'Sunshine' to see it, and the film received a very good response.


By the way, if you haven't downloaded a Capa desktop from the 'Sunshine' site yet, click the image above!

Thanks to Mici of cillian-murphy.org for the AICN tip!

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I don't know if they'll be back again, but according to 'The Jersey Journal', 'Watching the Detectives' filmed today at "a Bayonne shop made to look like a video store." Perhaps this New Jersey locale served as the fictional store owned by Cillian's character Neil?

Anyone in Bayonne happen to see anything?

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Another Cillian sighting was just reported to Gawker Stalker:

Cillian Murphy
BLEECKER ST AT PERRY ST
Jul 25th, 2006 @ 12pm
Saw Cillian Murphy on Bleecker and Cornelia pushing a baby stroller. I actually ran into to his stroller with my stroller. This is what my life has become... He was v. sweet with a rather odd-yet-good looking face. A nice Irishman indeed!

< < Insert another self-pitying comment about how I no longer live in NYC here. > >

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Someone in NYC emailed media/gossip blog Gawker's celebrity sighting Gawker Stalker section about seeing Cillian out and about this weekend:

Cillian Murphy
190 DUANE ST
Jul 23rd, 2006 @ 7pm
I saw Cillian Murphy, AKA Scarecrow, dining outside Roc with family and friends. He was a little on the short side and very thin, but, otherwise, he was kinda cute and not nearly as odd-looking in person. Very brilliant blue eyes.

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Here it is, folks! I want to apologize for such a delay. MG and I wanted to read the story ourselves and make sure that everything was ready to go for you all to read. After a game of e-mail tag, we finally have it for you all! We've done our best to alleviate any spoilers, as we don't want to ruin any parts of the movie for you. What you read is just as Annie experienced it.

The photos featured throughout the recount were taken by Annie. I would like to showcase the rest of the images that she has taken, although most of them are already displayed. If you all are interested, perhaps I'll create a new folder in the gallery to display these photos.

For now, on behalf of Annie, MG, and myself, we hope you enjoy this cillianONLINE exclusive!

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Although it can be amusing to see what celebs get up to when they're up for the Golden Popcorn trophy, I think that the MTV Movie Awards and particularly the many popularity contests it's spawned are more about marketing and ad revenues than honoring artistic achievement. And I daresay our idol Mr. Murphy is more about chasing art than racing to the heart of popular culture.

That said, it can be fun to vote for him anyway, and there are currently two opportunities to do just that. Today at Comic-Con International, Spike TV announced the creation of the SCREAM Awards to "celebrate horror, sci-fi, fantasy and comic books," and Cillian is up for Most Vile Villain (just how he wants to be best known... not!) for playing Scarecrow in 'Batman Begins.' While the SCREAM Awards will be decided by popular vote, nominations were made by an advisory board made up of industry heavyweights, including two key Cillian collaborators: director Wes Craven ('Red Eye') and screenwriter David S. Goyer ('Batman Begins'). Cillian's competitors in the Most Vile Villain category include 'X Men' heavy Ian McKellen and all the bad guys from 'The Devil's Rejects.' Spike TV will air the awards show on October 10th.


Also, at the repeated urging of someone anonymous in the comments to recent cillianONLINE posts, I am alerting those of you who are teenagers that you can cast a ballot for Cillian at Fox TV's Teen Choice Awards page. He's up for Choice Sleazebag (another dubious honor!), presumably for playing both Scarecrow and Jackson Rippner. Once again, he's up against Sir McKellen, plus Jack Black, Bill Nighy, Kevin Spacey AND Meryl Streep, making him a long shot against this formidable group of famous nominees. The show will air (live in the Eastern Time zone) on Fox on August 20th.

In case you weren't aware, a sequel to '28 Days Later...', called '28 Weeks Later...', is about to start filming -- but Cillian will not be in the movie, and I don't believe that Naomie Harris or Megan Burns will appear either. Still, the '28 Days Later...'/'Sunshine' team of Danny Boyle, Alex Garland and Andrew Macdonald are producing the sequel, so it may be of interest to fans of the original. In another Comic-Con event, the first plot details were just announced. ComingSoon.net reports:

Lead by director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, '28 Weeks Later...' picks up six months after the Rage virus has decimated the city of London. The US Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city, when a carrier of the Rage virus enters London and unknowingly re-ignites the spread of the deadly infection, wreaking havoc on the entire population.

'Empire' raises some pertinent questions:

How come the US Army are restoring order to London? What happened to our brave Brits? Aren’t Rage carriers dying out by the end of the first movie?

This Cillian-less, potentially superfluous sequel will come out on May 11, 2007.

Last, a little good news: Reuters UK reported that 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' moved up a slot to take fourth place at the box office in the UK (and Ireland?). Still no word on a North American distributor, but Pathé still maintains that it will happen.

>>> U P D A T E : An interesting comment to this post from Jackie prompted me to look into how much money 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' has made. Box Office Mojo shows that as of last weekend, 'Barley' had brought in $4,027,423, which is approximately €3,175,200 or £2,166,912, the number to which Jackie may have been referring. The film's small budget was €6.5 million (source: Netribution).

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