Fans of the 28 Days Later franchise were thrilled to finally get a follow-up this year with 28 Years Later—and they weren't disappointed. Sony Pictures has already wrapped filming on a sequel: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, slated for release early next year and directed by Nia DaCosta. The first trailer just dropped and the film looks as grimly compelling as its predecessor, while hopefully also retaining something of the 2025 film's heart.
(Spoilers for 28 Years Later below.)
As previously reported, the critically acclaimed 2002 film 28 Days Later is often credited with sparking the 21st-century revival of the zombie genre. In that film, a highly contagious "Rage Virus" was accidentally released from a lab in Cambridge, England. Those infected turned into violent, mindless monsters who brutally attacked the uninfected—so-called "fast zombies." Transmitted by bites, scratches, or even just by getting a drop of infected blood in one's system, the virus spreads rapidly, effectively collapsing society.
The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, featured a new cast of characters living on the outskirts of London. Britain had begun rebuilding, taking in refugees and moving them to safe-zone districts. But all it takes is one careless person getting infected for the virus to spread uncontrollably again. So naturally, that's what happened. The survivors eventually fled to France, only for the virus to spread there, too.
A planned third film got mired in development hell, and by the time production got back on track, so much time had passed that producer/director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland decided to set the film much further in the future—28 years in fact. Sadly, Britain was still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, but one group of survivors lived on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily defended causeway. Residents included Isla (Jodie Comer), who was pregnant and suffering from a mysterious illness, her husband, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and 12-year-old son, Spike (Alfie Williams).
We learned that there were evolved Alpha zombies, including one named Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) leading the infected. And we met former GP Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a survivor of the original outbreak who had constructed a large temple out of human bones recovered from crematoriums (hence the film's title). For Kelson, it was a kind of memento mori.
By the film's end, Isla had opted for euthanasia after realizing she had terminal cancer, and a disillusioned Spike had returned to the mainland, leaving behind an uninfected infant with his father. Cut to 28 days later, when Spike was rescued from a horde of infected by Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell), another original survivor who turned out to be the leader of a barbaric cult.
Spike, Kelson, and Crystal clearly play major roles in The Bone Temple. Per the official premise:
Dr. Kelson finds himself in a shocking new relationship—with consequences that could change the world as they know it—and Spike's encounter with Jimmy Crystal becomes a nightmare he can't escape. In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival—the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.
Samson the Alpha Zombie is back, too. The cast also includes Erin Kellyman, Emma Laird, and Maura Bird as Jimmy Ink, Jimmima, and Jimmy Jones, all members of Crystal's cult. Taylor-Johnson is listed in the credits, but it's unclear how much of a role he'll play in the sequel. But best of all, Cillian Murphy will reprise his 28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later starring role as intrepid bike courier Jim, who miraculously survived the first two movies and, apparently, the ensuing 28 years.
The theatrical release date for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is January 16, 2026.
007 First Light, annunciata la data di uscita: arriverà a marzo 2026