It’s not quite 28 years after 28 Days Later, but Danny Boyle’s third slice of his iconic post-apocalyptic horror is back with a bang.
Twenty three years after the eerie scenes of an empty London in 28 Days Later hit our screens and 18 years after sequel 28 Weeks Later, cinemagoers will be plunged back into the nightmarish world of bloodthirsty zombies and biohazard horror this weekend.
While this is the third film depicting civilisation as we know it being wiped out by a virus turning people into killing monsters, Lancashire-born director Danny Boyle has stated it’s very much a “new journey” and “something that stands on its own”.
It will be the first in a new trilogy of films written by 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland, and continues next year with 28 Years Later: Bone Temple.
Here’s what you need to know about what’s predicted to be one of the biggest British-made films of the year as the uninfected go into battle with the rage-fuelled infected once more.
Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures releases 28 Years Later across cinemas in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada on Friday, June 20, 2025.
As the title would suggest, 28 Years Later picks up the action 28 years – or 10,228 days to be precise – after the dreaded Rage virus escaped a medical research laboratory.
A plucky group have spent almost three decades evading the infected following the outbreak, with one of the small pockets of uninfected communities living on a small island with a heavily-defended causeway separating them from the mainland.
We follow a father and son who dare to leave the relative safety of the island for the mainland where they discover the secrets and horrors of the outside world.
The ominous tagline for the film is “Time Didn’t Heal Anything”…
Much of the film was shot in the North East of England from May to July, 2024, with Boyle revealing a lot was shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, with specialised attachments, as well as drones, digital cameras and film cameras, which helps to give the film a more real feel.
In Yorkshire, some scenes were shot in Ripon and Fountains Abbey, as well as in Bradford.
Some scenes were also shot in Cheddar Gorge in Somerset.
The film stars Golden Globe winner Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Jamie, Liverpool’s Jodie Comer as Isla, and Alfie Williams as their 12-year-old son, Spike.
28 Years Later also features Ralph Fiennes as survivor of the outbreak Dr Ian Kelson, Jack O’Connell as cult leader Sir Jimmy Crystal and Swedish star Edvin Ryding as Erik Sundqvist.
Boyle, Garland, and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle all worked on the original film. Meanwhile, 28 Days Later star, Cillian Murphy also returns, this time in the executive producer chair.
