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28 Years Later Is Coming From Danny Boyle And Alex Garland

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland are finally making another sequel to 28 Days Later called 28 Years Later.

Published Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:01:07 -0600

Article Summary

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland reunite for the sequel 28 Years Later, a new chapter in the iconic zombie series.
The film aims to breathe new life into the genre post-pandemic, building on eerie sights now staples in reality.
28 Years Later is the start of a planned trilogy, with a budget of $75 million for each film and ongoing writing.
The project seeks a distributor, with both big studios and streamers vying for the package set to sell soon.

The zombie genre is constantly evolving with the times, and how we see the living dead often correlates with how we see the world. One of the big ways that the genre changed was back in 2003 with 28 Days Later by director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland. Instead of the slow-moving monsters that were creeping up on you, these zombies were fast, and they weren't afraid to get their sprint on. The film was a game-changer in terms of the genre and was critically acclaimed. The box office didn't light the world on fire; it made just under $85 million, but on a budget of just $8 million, those are some solid returns. A sequel was announced, 28 Weeks Later, in 2007, but it did not do well commercially or critically and only featured Boyle and Garland as producers. Since then, there have been ongoing rumors and speculation that another film, usually called 28 Months Later, could be in the making. However, time stops for no one, and "months" doesn't really apply when it's been a decade and a half. So perhaps that's why when it was announced today by The Hollywood Reporter that Garland and Boyle are reteaming for another film, it won't be titled 28 Months Later, but 28 Years Later.

28 Years Later Is Coming From Danny Boyle And Alex Garland — L-R: 28 Days Later Poster © 2002 Fox Searchlight | 20 Weeks Later © 2007 Fox Searchlight

Not only has the zombie genre evolved, but with an actual pandemic behind us, that also changes things. One of the more eerie moments of the first film was seeing Jim (Cillian Murphy) wandering through empty London streets. We saw empty streets in major cities just four years ago, so it'll be really interesting to see how real-life events impact these films. And "films" are plural because 28 Years Later is being developed with the intention of kicking off a new trilogy, with Boyle attached to direct the first film and Garland scheduled to write all three. The budgets would be modest-ish, $75 million, for each of the subsequent films.

At the moment, 28 Years Later doesn't have a home. While Fox Searchlight distributed the first two films, this film is, according to The Hollywood Reporter's sources, "expected to hit studios, streamers, and other potential buyers later this week, according to multiple sources. WME, which reps Boyle and Garland, will take out the package and handle the sale." So whoever gets this is looking to score big. 28 Days Later got a massive revival during the pandemic for a rather apparent reason, and the cult following around the film, Boyle, and Garland has only increased as the years have gone on. Boyle has gone on to direct the criminally underrated Sunshine [seriously, if you haven't seen that film, fix that] and award-winning films like Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. Garland has made a couple of hit-and-misses in the last of years, like Men, but also made the criminally underrated Annihilation [see previous comment seeing this immediately if you haven't] and has the already divisive Civil War set to come out later this year.