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In this article is a recap of the past two movies (28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later), as well as cast and filming updates for the upcoming movie 28 Years Later.

In 2002, Danny Boyle directed the iconic British horror movie titled 28 Days Later. The 2007 film directed and written by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo followed completely different characters in 28 Weeks Later

Now, after nearly two decades, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are returning to direct and write the long-awaited sequel “28 Years Later”, releasing in 2025. This is going to be the beginning of the next trilogy of movies in the franchise.

What happened in 28 Days Later?

How did people become infected?

At the beginning of the film, the RAGE virus spreads after a break-in at a lab. Primates are being experimented on and indoctrinated with wars and riots, leadint to them experiencing extreme acts of aggression/violence from it.

These primates attack the animal rights activists who tried to free them, giving them this RAGE virus; and this leads to a deadly outbreak across the United Kingdom.

Cillian Murphy is introduced as Jim

Jim is involved in a cycling accident and this injury puts him into a coma. He wakes up after the apocolypse has already happened, although there are still infected running around.

These infected are fast-paced, however Jim is found by two survivors; who inform him of what’s happened. One of them being Naomie Harris’ character Selena, and she is there with him until the end of the film.

Jim and Selena also encounter a father and daughter surving in a block of flats, and they travel with them to Manchester in hopes of a safezone… unfortunately they meet a rogue army led by Christopher Eccleston’s Major Henry West, who takes advantage of them.

Did anyone survive in 28 Days Later?

Jim is injured when he hunts the soldiers down one-by-one, at one point mirroring an aggressive animalistic nature much like the infected.

The taxi driver’s daughter Hannah survives and Selena helps Jim recover until the end of the film, where they all live in a cottage somewhere in Cumbria. Their large “HELLO” sign they lay out on the grass attracts a fighter jet and they are supposedly rescued off-screen.

What happened in 28 Weeks Later?

The infrastructure of London is beginning to be restored by NATO; as the infected are being cleared away in order to allow for quarantine zones, and people are being brought back into the area under strict checks for infections.

As mentioned earlier in the article, this film doesn’t follow the previous protagonists. There is now a focus on brother and sister characters: Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) and Tammy (Imogen Poots), and they are reunited with their father Don (Robert Carlyle) in London.

Don cowardly abandoned his wife at the start of the film, while she was cornered by the infected at a house in the countryside and he’s unaware that she has managed to live… even telling his kids that she didn’t make it.

He later finds out that his wife is alive on an operating table at a NATO health centre. She has an immunity towards the virus much like her son Andy. Although, when Don kisses his wife, she accidentally passes on the virus; causing him to be one of the infected.

After another outbreak, the city descends into complete chaos once again, and the US military decides to nuke London in order to avoid another major spread.

Did anyone survive in 28 Weeks Later?

Both Andy and Tammy reach a train station where their infected dad has chased them down. They confront the undead Don who attempts to contaminate Andy with the virus, luckily he has an immunity and Andy and Tammy escape to a helicopter in a football pitch. The end credits of the film reveals that an outbreak has reached Paris, France.

Who is starring in 28 Years Later?

Is Cillian Murphy returning?

Cillian Murphy will be an executive producer on this movie and in a Deadline interview with Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman; Tom Rothman revealed that Murphy will also be reprising his role as Jim, and this will be done “in a surprising way and in a way that grows.”

Could Jim be in charge of a survival colony? Cillian Murphy returns in part two of 28 Years Later, titled The Bone Temple. Although, the plot of this film is still currently being kept under wraps.

Names for these characters have yet to be revealed, however this is the cast list for 28 Years Later, so far:

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson
• Jodie Comer
• Ralph Feinnes
• Jack O’Connell
• Erin Kellyman
• Alfie Williams
• Edvin Ryding

Will the music composer return for the third film?

John Murphy composed the music for both of these films and the soundtrack from the first film proves to be very popular to this day; as it’s mostly used online when people share their videos of apocalypse theories or sinister horror stories. It’s possible that John Murphy may return to compose the themes for this third film, although he has been busy with composing for the upcoming Superman movie, also releasing in 2025.

Filming updates

Filming has started since early May; as crews were setting up to film in Holy Island, Newcastle and Keilder Forest.

There are also extra casting calls likely looking for people to play infected as the search is for ‘ultra marathon runners/serious cyclists/triathletes/fit people with lean strong physiques’, in these filming locations: Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, Gateshead and Tyneside.

There are new images of Jodie Comer’s character dressed in raggedy clothing, these are likely scenes from the beginning of her story before the character found a safe community where I’m assuming she will meet Johnson’s character.

One of the other actors who can be seen twice in these images with the blonde hair, has been identified as Swedish actor Edvin Ryding (most known for the role of Prince Wilhelm in Young Royals). The badge on the character’s arm reveals Edvin is playing NATO soldier called E. Sundovist.

Update July 31, 2024: Production has wrapped on 28 Years Later, and the film will enter post-production.

When is 28 Years Later releasing?

Sony Pictures is releasing 28 Years Later in cinemas, on June 20, 2025. See the 2025 cinema release date schedule here.

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December 10, 2024 update: An official trailer is now available to watch for 28 Years Later.

In other horror movie news, there’s also a British WW2 Zombie horror movie being filmed.