Last Updated on May 30, 2025 by Angel Melanson
After revitalizing the zombie subgenre (yes, we know they're infected technically), Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are back with a third installment in the 28 Days Later franchise after more than 15 years of speculation. 28 Years Later comes to cinemas in June, set 30 years after the events of the original films that revolutionized British horror cinema.
Released in 2002, 28 Days Later introduced a whole generation to the concept of running zombies, a trope we've seen used in World War Z, I Am Legend, and many more films of the genre since. It focuses on Jim (Cillian Murphy), who wakes up from a coma to find that his hometown of London and the wider UK has been ravaged by the Rage virus, turning those infected into snarling, bloodthirsty creatures.
He stumbles upon a group of survivors, including Selena (Naomie Harris) and cab driver Frank (Brendan Gleeson), on their journey to find safety. It proved an unprecedented hit and led to a sequel in 2007, 28 Weeks Later, with US-NATO forces establishing a safe zone in London, which is compromised by siblings Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) when they break protocol to find a photo of their mother.
The upcoming installment is set – you guessed it – 28 years after the events of the initial films. We join a brand new star-studded cast portraying survivors desperately trying to navigate the infected as well as the evil of humanity itself that festers even when society has crumbled. As we eagerly await 28 Years Later's big screen debut, here's everything you need to know about one of 2025's biggest and most anticipated new horror movies.
When is 28 Years Later released?
28 Years Later is set to be released in the United Kingdom and the United States on June 20. It comes just weeks after Sean Byrne's wild-looking shark-horror, serial killer, Ozsploitation mashup Dangerous Animals, which comes to cinemas on June 6. One week after 28 Years Later arrives in theaters, the lovable yet deadly robot M3GAN returns for round two in M3GAN 2.0, promising even more chaos and possible viral TikTok moments than its predecessor. It's going to be a good summer.
Cast
28 Years Later has a star-studded cast packed full of familiar faces for genre fans. Jim actor Cillian Murphy isn't set to return for this film (despite rumors surrounding that trailer zombie), with Nosferatu star Aaron Taylor-Johnson appearing as this film's leading man. He will play Jamie, a survivor living in a community on the tidal island of Lindisfarne, Northumberland. Jamie's pregnant wife Isla will be played by Killing Eve's Jodie Comer, while newcomer Alfie Williams will portray their 12-year-old son Spike.
Fresh from his stint in record-breaking vampire flick Sinners, Jack O'Connell will appear in 28 Years Later as cult leader Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, who is harboring a dark past. Teasing what to expect from his mysterious character, the Skins actor said he is “a gas c**t” (per NME). So there you go. Conclave star Ralph Fiennes will appear as Dr. Kelson, another survivor of the outbreak, sharing only slightly more details that we can look forward to in the film than O'Connell, promising there is “a fantastic set built out of bones” (per Deadline)
The cast is rounded out by Willow's Erin Kellyman, The Abyss' Edvin Ryding, A Haunting in Venice's Emma Laird, and more.
Plot
An official synopsis for 28 Years Later reads: “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.”
Much like 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later before it, as well as zombie survival hits such as The Walking Dead, it seems 28 Years Later will be focusing heavily on how the apocalypse has affected the human condition and how we treat each other, with some descending into some of the most depraved behavior you can imagine following the breakdown of society.
Boyle told Empire a little about what we can expect from the film's narrative and the band of survivors at the center: “It's a closed and necessarily very tight community, there are very strict defense laws, obviously, to survive that long in what is effectively an ongoing hostile environment. They've created a successful community, as they see it.”
Additionally, Fiennes told IndieWire: “Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother.” He continued: “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.” There are far more dangers for the survivors to face than the infected, and the trailers we've seen only up the ante even further.
Trailers
If there's one thing that has us at FANGORIA hyped for 28 Years Later, it's the skin-crawling trailers we've seen so far. The first teaser trailer took us back to the very start of the outbreak, dialing up the horror while giving us very little information about the film's narrative, opting instead to elicit eerie vibes.
The first full trailer, released in December, gave us a glimpse of the survivors, as well as some gnarly infected, all set to the 1903 poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling. The trailer quickly became the number one trending trailer on YouTube, amassing more than 10 million views in 48 hours and pushing Sony to finally re-release 28 Days Later on digital platforms after being made unavailable by Disney two years prior.
The second trailer provided fans with a deeper insight into the film's universe. It plunges viewers straight into the action with a group of armed men being attacked by an infected before we cut to an aerial shot of the remote island where our central survivors have built their community. “There are so many dead, infected and non-infected alike,” Fiennes' Dr. Kelson says in narration, over close-ups of various weapons, snarling zombies, and rows upon rows of graves.
Johnson's Jamie takes his son Spike out of their bustling town into the great wide open, a decision we're fairly sure they'll come to regret as the undead run across sprawling fields towards them and the trailer descends into all-out pandemonium. We're on the edge of our seats with just two minutes of footage.
Production
Rumors of a third 28 Days Later film began all the way back in 2007, but news went quiet after Garland confirmed in 2010 that the project had been delayed. Boyle consistently shared his desire to create the film, as did Garland and Murphy, who would go on to executive produce 28 Years Later. The rumors began to heat up again in 2022 and 2023 when the filmmakers started expressing interest in the project once more, with Boyle saying he would like to serve as director and Murphy revealing he had been in talks with Boyle.
Fan's prayers were finally answered in January 2024 when it was announced that 28 Years Later was officially in development, and not only that, it was the first of a new trilogy of sequels. It was soon announced Boyle would direct the first installment with a script written by Garland, with the duo Andrew MacDonald and Peter Rice producing. Principal photography began in May 2024, with filming commencing shortly after, predominantly shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, along with several specialized attachments. Filming wrapped on July 29.
Will there be a sequel to 28 Years Later?
Yes, two, in fact. It was revealed last year that Nia DaCosta, best known for her work on 2021's Candyman reboot, would be directing a sequel to the film titled 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. It seems safe to assume that the large structure made entirely of human bones that we see in the 28 Years Later trailer is what this refers to, but no plot details or casting have been announced as of yet. It is scheduled for release on January 16, 2026.
In an interview with IndieWire, Fiennes shared that production on The Bone Temple has wrapped after it was filmed concurrently with the first film in the trilogy. “It's three films, of which two have been shot,” he said. Speaking about the feat to Empire, Garland said: “This is very narratively ambitious. Danny and I understood that. We tried to condense it, but its natural form felt like a trilogy.”
Empire later reported that the third film won't go into production until studios see how 28 Years Later fares with audiences, though it was reported last month that Boyle will return to the director's chair for the as-yet-untitled third installment.
