(Updated 12/10/2024)
In 2002, director Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING), writer Alex Garland, and star Cillian Murphy ushered in a new era of zombie horror movies. Now the trio is reuniting for a sequel, 28 YEARS LATER. Since Boyle has already made one of the best legacy sequels of all time (T2 TRAINSPOTTING) we have high hopes for this new movie.
Still, they've got their own high bar to clear. 28 DAYS LATER was an all-digital production in an era when almost all movies were still made on film. It used good old-fashioned tricks rather than digital effects to create the illusion of a deserted London cityscape. (Tricks like filming very early in the morning on weekends when no one was out on the streets.) Zombie movies had been in a lull for a while before 28 DAYS LATER, but they roared back to life afterward.
The movie has already been filmed, and the first trailer is here! We're eager to tell you everything we know about 28 YEARS LATER.
What's the 28 Years Later Release Date?
Sony Pictures will release 28 YEARS LATER in movie theaters on June 20, 2025.
Watch the First 28 Years Later Trailer
The first trailer for 28 YEARS LATER is very light on plot but absolutely dripping with atmosphere. It doesn't tell us anything about the characters in the movie, but it very clearly shows that the world is in a bad state. People are fearful, huddled in tribes, trying to preserve some semblance of society, but it seems like that is a serious struggle.
It's so nice to see Danny Boyle back as director, too. (No shade to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who made the first sequel.) Boyle has such a distinctive style, and his voice as a filmmaker comes through even in this limited footage.
What's the Song in the 28 Years Later Trailer?
Well, it's not really a song in the trailer, but a poem. If you had been born 100 years ago, you'd probably recognize it, too. The poem is "Boots" by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1903. It's a hypnotic and ultimately frenzied marching dirge that captures the thoughts of a British soldier during the Boer War.
Specifically, we hear the 1915 performance by Taylor Holmes. This reading by Holmes has been deemed significant enough to be preserved in the Library of Congress. Some modern score accompaniment has been added for this trailer, but you can listen to the unadorned performance via the link above. It's powerful!
What Is 28 Years Later About?
Right now, even after the trailer, we don't really know! The long-tail effects of the rage virus, which turned regular people into fast-moving, violent "zombies," and destroyed British society in the process, are clearly a core focus.
The original movie, 28 DAYS LATER, suggested that the infection might only last a few months. The first direct sequel, 2007's 28 WEEKS LATER, showed that the first wave was not the only wave of violence — and that the viral infection had spread from the UK to Europe. Now this third movie emerges from a world in which we have all felt the effects of a less savage but still damaging pandemic. That's a real-world context Boyle & Co. probably never thought would apply to any potential future sequel. So the chances are pretty high that this new movie might be more uncomfortably familiar than we're ready for.
Who's in the Cast of 28 Years Later?
Cillian Murphy features in the 28 YEARS LATER cast as Jim, the character he played in the original movie. But we don't see him in the trailer, so we don't know how significant his role will be. Since the bike courier ended the original movie (spoilers here for 28 DAYS LATER) having survived the first wave of rage-virus infection and violence, there are no big character hurdles to clear with having him appear in this sequel. So what has Jim been doing all this time? We'll find out!
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes play the leading roles. Jack O'Connell also features, as does Erin Kellyman. At this point, we do not have any information about their characters. Some of the actors are seen in the trailer, but we can glean very few details from the footage.
One More Key Member of the Original Crew Returns as Well
We mentioned that 28 DAYS LATER was notable for being an early example of a "big" movie filmed on digital video. Part of the film's success was due to cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who was one of the first cinematographers to fully embrace digital. (In fact, he won the first Oscar for Cinematography for a digitally-shot movie, with Danny Boyle's 2008 movie SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.)
Anthony Dod Mantle has also joined this reunion, and his participation on 28 YEARS LATER may be what puts the movie over the top. (He also filmed Boyle's TRAINSPOTTING sequel.) We're eager to see what he does with this movie now that the tools he embraced early on have become industry standards.
Another 28 Days Later Sequel Is Coming, Too!
There will be at least one sequel to 28 YEARS LATER, and it is currently called 28 YEARS LATER PART II: THE BONE TEMPLE. Nia DaCosta (LITTLE WOODS, CANDYMAN, THE MARVELS) is directing. In fact, filming has already begun, and Cillian Murphy has been seen on set. The script is by Alex Garland and Danny Boyle.
Given how little we know about the plot and characters of 28 YEARS LATER, it should be no surprise that even fewer details are known about the movie that will follow it. But this first trailer for the new movie shows what we can only guess is the Bone Temple mentioned in the title of the next film — so that gives us a tiny bit to go on, at least!
28 YEARS LATER opens on June 20, 2025.
All images courtesy of Sony Pictures.