Though it hasn’t yet been as long as the title suggests, it certainly feels that way, as horror fans have waited quite some time for 28 Years Later to get off the ground. Fortunately, not only is the long-awaited sequel happening, but we’re also getting a new trilogy out of the deal. Now director Danny Boyle says the 28 Years Later trilogy will be “wholly different” from past efforts.
The franchise began in 2002 with 28 Days Later written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. It was followed by a sequel titled 28 Weeks Later in 2007 with a different director and writing team. Now Boyle and Garland have returned to bring us this new trilogy, the first film of which was directed by Danny Boyle himself with a screenplay by Garland.
Here’s what Boyle had to say while speaking with Empire about the “wholly different” take in the new trilogy, which also includes a second installment titled 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple directed by Nia DaCosta:
“This is very narratively ambitious. Danny and I understood that. We tried to condense it, but its natural form felt like a trilogy,” he began.
“It was a wholly different approach. It was about what that 28 years gives you,” Boyle adds. After all, they must illustrate just how much time has passed since the original two installments were released. This includes a new setting, taking place on Holy Island, aka Lindsfarne, which connects to Britain with an area dependent on the tide.
“It’s a closed and necessarily very tight community,” Boyle reveals regarding the film’s new setting. “There are very strict defence laws, obviously, to survive that long in what is effectively an ongoing hostile environment. They’ve created a successful community, as they see it.”
There’s certainly been plenty enough time for Boyle and Garland to construct a worthy follow-up to 28 Days Later. By the sound of things, they have certainly created enough material to explore. Especially with enough to create three new films. Hopefully we’ll have more info soon as we approach the release of 28 Years Later and its first follow-up.
28 Years Later is set to hit theaters on June 20, 2025. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the highly-anticipated sequel and its own follow-ups as we have them.