We’re finally set to get the the follow-on from 28 Days Later and 28 Months Later – with three new films now being planned.
For many, many years following the release of 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, there were rumours aplenty that a third film in the series was going to happen. It would have been something along the lines of 28 Months Later, but for whatever reason – Danny Boyle went off and won an Oscar, for one – things didn’t come together.
It felt like a shame, too. 2002’s 28 Days Later was an intense and successful British thriller that Boyle directed and Alex Garland wrote. 2007’s 28 Weeks Later saw Juan Carlos Fresnadillo take over the director’s chair (co-writing the feature as well), and that too was a success.
However, it’s taken nearly 17 years to get to this particular news story: further chapters in the series are finally on the way.
In fact, it sounds like we’re not just getting one film: a fresh trilogy is coming.
It’ll start with 28 Years Later – as rumoured last year – that Danny Boyle will return to direct, and Alex Garland will return to write. Garland will then pen two further films, although who will direct those isn’t yet clear.
What is more certain is that the plan is for each movie to cost in the $75m range. The new trilogy will bring back producer Andrew Macdonald too, and the search is now on for someone to pick up the bill for the new films. The projects will be offered to studios and streamers over the next week, and it’s hard to imagine it won’t find takers. In the scheme of genre films, these are quite modestly costed, and there’s proven appetite for the movies as well.
It comes at a point where Boyle hasn’t directed a film for five years, with 2019’s Yesterday his most recent feature. He did, however, direct the mini-series Pistol that debuted in 2022. Still, it feels like it’s been a while since he was behind the camera on a set, and maybe 28 Years Later will be his next project.
In the intervening period, Garland has directed twice: 2022’s Men and the incoming Civil War. Even though he’s talked of his reluctance to direct again in a hurry, who knows? Garland may well pick up one of the three new films himself.
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.
