28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland finally reunited to make a sequel to their zombie (or, if you prefer, infected people) movie classic. 28 Years Later, which is meant to launch a whole trilogy of 28 Days Later sequels, reached theatres at the end of June, and the second chapter in the trilogy, 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, is scheduled to be released on January 16, 2026. Garland also wrote the screenplays for the sequels that will come after 28 Years Later – but for the second movie, Boyle has passed the helm over to Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta for the sequel. Empire has just unveiled a new image of Ralph Fiennes’ 28 Years Later character in The Bone Temple – and they also shared a quote that described this movie as a “weird, demented” cousin to its predecessor! The full image can be seen at the bottom of this article.
The Story Continues
Boyle might circle back to direct 28 Years Later Part III, which currently has Cillian Murphy in talks to reprise his role from 28 Days Later. 28 Years Later made $150 million at the global box office, but seemed to have trouble connecting with the audience. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray gave 28 Years Later a 7/10 review, and when we got a second opinion from Kier Gomes, he gave it a 6.5.
Empire lets us know that in The Bone Temple, we should expect more danger from the Jimmies as young hero Spike (Alfie Williams) is brought into their ranks, while Ralph Fiennes’ benevolent Dr Kelson strikes up an unlikely kinship with marauding Alpha infected Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Among it all, audiences will learn more about the bizarre belief system Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) has constructed for himself – channeled through pop cultural memories from his childhood, like Teletubbies, Power Rangers, cricket, and Jimmy Savile; who, in 2002, had not been unveiled as the monstrous predator he truly was.
Weird
DaCosta told Empire, “My movie is quite… weird. It’s surprising. There were multiple moments reading the script where my jaw dropped, literally.” O’Connell added that The Bone Temple is the “weird, demented, relative cousin of what we’ve seen before, in a way I’m really f*cking proud of. Because it’s rooted in soul, and the what-ifs. Massive what-ifs. And it’s f*cking shocking.“
As for the Jimmy Savile reference, O’Connell said, “The reality of the viewer and the proposed reality of these characters we’re playing are two very different perspectives. What I hope it does is invite people who watch it to consider that time, consider the zeitgeist of that period when the world in which we’re portraying just f*cking went to shit.“
DaCosta described the Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal character as someone who “perverts things, and he takes something that’s innocent and great — like the Teletubbies — and he makes it horrific.“
Are you looking forward to 28 Years Later‘s weird, demented cousin The Bone Temple? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed