Despite taking two decades, this year’s long-awaited horror movie sequel28 Years Laterproved to be well worth the wait, with next year’s follow-up,28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, now having even more to live up to.The Bone Templewon’t be helmed by Danny Boyle, but ratherCandyman’sNia DaCosta, who has now revealed the one change she requested from Alex Garland’s script. And it’s a change that suggestsThe Bone Templeis in good hands.
Set to hit theaters on 16 July 2025,28 Years Later: The Bone Templewill pick up with new character Spike (played by Alfie Williams) and the wildly creepy character introduced in the final moments of28 Years Later,Jack O’Connell’s mysterious cult leaderSir Jimmy Crystal.
During a recent appearance at an Edinburgh International Film Festival event (viaTHR), DaCosta called working onThe Bone Temple“one of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve had” whilecomparing it to the likes ofCandymanandThe Marvels, both of which she says lacked “a really solid script.” However, this was far from the case withThe Bone Temple, with DaCosta making one request of Alex Garland: add more infected.
“But Alex Garland hands you a script, and you’re like, ‘This is amazing.’ You don’t really have to change it, although I did, I basically asked for more infected. [Laughs.] That was, like, my big contribution.
I inherited an amazing cast, then I was given the leeway to cast the rest of the film. There were a couple of locations I inherited. I was given the leeway to develop all the other locations. Some of it overlapped, like the character Samson — Danny and I would collaborate a bit on the look, but at the end of the day, Danny shoots so different from the way I shoot.”
“‘28 Days Later’ Was One of My Seminal Films Growing Up”
Following on from 2002’s critically acclaimed28 Days Later(and, in part, its 2007 sequel28 Weeks Later),28 Years Laterat last reveals what has happenedto the world since the onslaught of the Rage Virus and the “zombies” that took over. Directed by Danny Boyle, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Garland,28 Years Laterboasts a stellar cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, and Edvin Ryding, and follows a father and son who leave their small, isolated island and head into the dangerous mainland, where the boy discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
28 Years Laterwas a huge success for Sony, grossing $150.4 million worldwide against its budget of $60 million, and receiving largely positive reviews from critics. Thankfully, Nia DaCosta is well aware of the legacy at stake, with the director declaring her passion forthe franchise and calling28 Days Later“one of my seminal films growing up.”
“28 Days Later was one of my seminal films growing up… I had the DVD in my house. I watched it all the time. Obviously, fell in love with Cillian Murphy. And Danny Boyle is a bonkers f*cking filmmaker. No one else can make a Danny Boyle film, and that was actually the biggest part of my pitch for the movie. I was like, ‘No one else can do that and I don’t have any intention of doing that. Here’s how I see the film, what do you think?'”
