Posted in: Movies, Sony | Tagged: 28 years later, alex garland, danny boyle
28 Years Later Snags A June 2025 Release Date
28 Years Later has snagged a June 2025 release, finally emerging from a long stint in development hell, which began in June 2007.
Article Summary
- '28 Years Later' secures a June 20, 2025 release, reigniting the famed zombie franchise.
- Danny Boyle and Alex Garland reunite, with a stellar cast including Jodie Comer.
- The film faces competition from 'The Black Phone 2' and other June releases.
- '28 Years Later' marks a major return after the series idled for over a decade.
It looks like we're going to get some zombie action next summer. One of the more surprising projects to be announced this year was 28 Years Later. Another entry in this series has been in varying forms of development for a long time, but it never seemed like it would get off the ground. Then word came down in January that Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and Cillian Murphy were returning to direct, write, and executive produce respectively, at least the first film, and this would be kicking off a new series of films.
Recently, casting announcements started coming down, including Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jack O'Connell. When the cast starts to fill in like that, you know things are pretty far along, and it sounds like that is very much the case. According to Variety, 28 Years Later has been dated for June 20, 2025, giving it a prime-time summer blockbuster release date.
Regarding competition for 28 Years Later, it's still a bit early to tell exactly what it will be going up against, but a few films have been dated for June. Ballerina, the first John Wick spin-off film, and the new Dirty Dancing sequel are set for June 7th. Pixar's Elio and the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon are both dated for June 14th. Nothing else is dated for June 20th, but The Black Phone 2 is set for June 27th. Regarding the actual competition and trying to court the same audience, 28 Years Later's biggest competition is The Black Phone 2. Still, the calendar is very empty, so we know more movies will be added eventually.
28 Years Later Spent Over A Decade In Development Hell
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 released, 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. It was announced in January that 28 Years Later was in the works, with Danny Boyle directing and Alex Garland writing, with Nia DaCosta taking over directing the second film. The deal was set to include multiple movies and kick off a trilogy. 28 Years Later will be released on 20, 2025.