After “28 days later” in 2002 and “28 weeks later” in 2007, wouldn’t it be time to move on to “28 months later”? Danny Boyle, who has a screenplay by Alex Garland for this third film, thinks the time is right and he’s ready to direct it.
The great zombie movie of the 21st century
In 2002, Danny Boyle presented 28 days latera post-apocalyptic horror film that reinvents the cinematic figure of the zombie and reinvigorates the genre. Produced on a limited budget ($8 million), the film brought in ten times more and delighted critics around the world. The list of its merits is long: a formidable cast – the film reveals Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris -, the brilliant staging of London emptied of its population, a brilliant premise on which Alex Garland develops a breathless script, and a fabulous composition original by John Murphy.
Five years later, a sequel is born, 28 weeks later. Change of cast in front of and behind the camera, but Danny Boyle remains in production. Results : a new success which assumes its filiation as its difference, in particular a strong inscription in the “action” genre. Among other qualities of this suite, a masterpiece of introduction which we cannot objectively get tired of.
Danny Boyle is hot for 28 months later
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the confinements necessary for its containment, 28 days later remembered fondly by many. This was one of the great strengths of his screenplay: perfectly grasping contemporary issues as well as foreseeing those to come and dealing with them in a genre film. As a reminder, the zombies of 28 days later are carriers ofa highly contagious virus close to that of “rabies”, originally transmitted to man by a laboratory chimpanzee.
With his ideas and his success on the screens, it would ultimately be unfortunate if the franchise 28 stick to this single diptych. This is why Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland have always kept in the back of their minds the idea of a third film, which the director mentioned in 2019.
In a recent interview with the magazine NME Danny Boyle and Cillian Murphy talked about their memories of the film. And the director opened up about the news of a third film.
I would be very tempted to do so. And actually it seems like the best time to do it. It’s funny, I didn’t think about it and you brought it up, and I remember at the time I was thinking “Wow, that script!” (Alex Garland wrote a script for “28 months later” in 2015, editor’s note). This one takes place again in England, it is very “England”. In any case, we’ll see… Who knows?
An ideal time for a new 28
Very open to the idea of making this third film since it has a, in his words, very good scriptDanny Boyle is also interested in the existence of such a production in the current configuration of the cinema industry.
The project could really be on the table because one of the realities of the industry right now is that you really need a good reason to go to the movies. Because there are fewer and fewer reasons. It’s hard for distributors and theaters to show films, they have a hard time filling theaters unless it’s for Top Gun : Maverick or a Marvel movie. But a third “28” movie would get there, if done well enough.
On this point, the bet to bring the spectators in the rooms in number seems indeed feasible. As for the scenario 28 months later, Danny Boyle may be revealing more than he realizes. By pointing out the fact that this new film would take place in England, and knowing that at the end of 28 weeks later the virus has reached the European continent, we would logically move towards a world infested with zombies. Thus England, in its capacity as island territorycould be a space a priori protected, with closed borders. A very “pandemic” situation, with multiple possible approaches to make everything go wrong…
