The CinemaCon audience got a sneak peek at a new trailer for 28 Years Later, presented by director Danny Boyle
Last Updated on April 3, 2025
28 Days LaterdirectorDanny Boyleand screenwriterAlex Garlandhave finally reunited to make a sequel to their zombie (or, if you prefer, infected people) movie classic. As we reporter earlier this year, this sequel is set up at Sony, is going to be called28 Years Later, and it’s meant to launch a whole trilogy of28 Days Latersequels.The theatrical release date isJune 20th, 2025 – and attendees at the CinemaCon event got a sneak peek at a new trailer! Boyle was there to introduce the trailer and revealed that the movie has a massive scale compared to the previous films in the franchise. It also has a huge aspect ratio; 2:55:1. There’s no word on when this new trailer will be making its way online.
The cast of28 Years Laterincludes Jodie Comer (The Bikeriders), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (The Fall Guy), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), and Erin Kellyman (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). In the original film, Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) played bicycle courier Jim, who wakes up from a coma to find himself in an apocalyptic England that’s overrun by people who have been infected by a rage virus. Boyle and Garland went through several endings for28 Days Laterbefore landing on the one movie-goers saw in theatres – and that ending was the only one where Jim survived. So he’s still out there, ready to live through another rage virus nightmare 28 years later. He may not be in the first28 Years Later, but he’s supposed to come back “in a surprising way” at some point.
Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes are all featured in the new trailer. Boyle also confirmed that Murphy will show up in this trilogy at some point, but we might have to “wait a bit for him.”
As The Hollywood Reporter previously noted, “The 2002 film grossed $82.7 million globally and spawned a sequel, 2007’s28 WeeksLater, though Boyle and Garland were only nominally involved as executive producers.” Speaking with Empire, Garland said (with thanks toScreen Rantfor sharing the quote), “[28 Years Lateris] not in conflict [with28 Weeks Later, but] canon [is] not a very Danny Boyle word.” Boyle added, “It’s not mapped out like a scientific formula.“ When28 Years Latercame up during an interview withIndieWire, Fiennes decided to go ahead and tell us all about it: “Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother. He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them hiding in forests and hills and woods are the infected. But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good.“
Thanks to their deal with Sony, each of these new films will be receiving a theatrical release and will have budgets in the $60 million range.28 Years Laterhas a budget of $75 million. Boyle and Garland are producing28 Years Laterwith Bernie Bellew, original producer Macdonald, and Peter Rice, who was the head of Fox Searchlight Pictures when that company backed28 Days Later.Murphy is executive producing.
Garland also wrote the screenplays for the sequels that will come after28 Years Later. Of the two28 Years Laterprojects currently in the works, Boyle directed the first one, then passed the helm over toCandymanandThe MarvelsdirectorNia DaCostafor the sequel, titled28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple. The second film has already wrapped production. Boyle might circle back to direct28 Years Later Part III.
DaCosta confirmed to CinemaCon attendees that the second film is already shot and a rough cut has been put together. 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple is said to be “informed” by 28 Years Later, but is also different from its predecessor. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray notes that the sequel appears to be centered on Fiennes’ character, and that DaCosta shared a photo of him looking like Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
Are you looking forward to 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple? What do you think of the CinemaCon reveals? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
