With “28 Years Later” reuniting director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland (an established director in his own right), the filmmaker has revealed during an interview that there had been plans for a trilogy of films connected to their sci-fi thriller “Sunshine,” and explains why that never came together.
Boyle was speaking with Colldier to promote the new horror thriller and said their plans for a “Sunshine” trilogy is partly the reason why “28 Years Later” is the first installment of a new trilogy (Nia DaCosta is directing duties on the second film “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple“). Garland had outlined two more parts, as the focus would be on other stories centered around the sun, but Boyle stopped short of revealing any juicy details.
“Originally, when we were doing it, Alex wrote two other parts. It was supposed to be a trilogy…I mean, he only wrote an outline…It was a planetary trilogy. It was to do with the sun itself, with two other stories. What’s interesting is Alex has a natural instinct as a storyteller to want to tell these expanding stories, and that is why ’28 Years Later’ wound up as a trilogy,” Boyle told Collider.
Sadly, as Boyle points out, “Sunshine” ultimately didn’t do well enough at the box office for 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures to pursue follow-up sequels. Released back in 2007, “Sunshine” only mustered $34.8 million on a budget of $40 million, which is an obvious setback for those trilogy plans.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Boyle and Garland will eventually attempt to resurrect those “Sunshine” follow-up ideas, as “Sunshine” is quite the compelling sci-fi film, spotlighting actors such as Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Benedict Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada, Mark Strong, and a pre-MCU Chris Evans. They played a diverse group of scientists looking to help deliver a payload to reignite a dying sun, so the human inhabitants on Earth can survive.
Garland and Boyle worked together on “The Beach,” “28 Days Later, and “Sunshine” before Garland decided to move on and work on things like “Dredd” (he recently admitted shadow-directing the gritty comic book flick) before officially starting his directorial career. One of Garland’s tantalizing upcoming projects, other than the two “28 Years Later” sequels, is a live-action film adaptation of the fantasy video game “Elden Ring” that is gestating over at A24.
“28 Years Later” brings the rage virus back to theaters on June 20, released by Sony Pictures.
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