Moviegoers won’t need to wait long for the first sequel to Danny Boyle‘s “28 Years Later” after it theaters next summer on June 20, 2025. Yesterday Sony announced that Nia DaCosta‘s “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” will hit theaters on January 16, 2026, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. That’s a seven-month gap, which leads one to wonder: will the planned third film be ready for seven months after that, August 2026?
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Boyle and DaCosta shot “28 Years Later” and “The Bone Temple” back-to-back, with Alex Garland penning both films. Garland and Boyle also lead producers on the new trilogy, with Andrew McDonald, Peter Rice, and Bernie Bellew.
“28 Years Later” stars Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Erin Kellyman, and Edvin Ryding, with Taylor-Johnson confirmed to return for “The Bone Temple.” Also returning for DaCosta’s film? Cillian Murphy, the hero of Boyle’s 2002 original.
Plot details for “The Bone Temple” remain under wraps, but here’s an official synopsis for “28 Years Later,” courtesy of Sony:
It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
Fiennes also teased the trilogy’s story while talking to IndieWire in October. “Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities,” the actor explained about the plot. “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.”
Take another look at the “28 Years Later” trailer below.
Additionally, after years of being absent on digital services, Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later,” the film that started it all, is now available to buy or rent on most streaming channels. Watch the new trailer here.
