Danny Boyle has opened up about what fans of 28 Days Later (and, maybe, 28 Weeks Later) can expect from 28 Years Later, the upcoming entry in the popular zombie movie series credited for reviving the genre after a long hiatus, when it released in 2002. Interestingly, 28 Years Later is the first of a new trilogy, with no connections to 28 Weeks Later, Boyle said in an interview with Collider.com.
The new film stars Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as its principal characters. Cillian Murphy, who led 28 Days Later, is expected to return in the second film "for a bit," according to Boyle, who shared with the outlet that 28 Years Later will contain many twists which cannot be divulged before the release. However, he added that Ralph Fiennes is a "massive" part of the second film in the new trilogy.
28 Years Later, said Boyle, has a story influenced by 28 Days Later but doesn't follow 28 Weeks Later. He called its storytelling "ambitious" but not something along the lines of a Mission Impossible film — but in terms of "intellectual ideas and emotional reach through the genre." Interestingly, 28 Years Later has a $75 million budget as opposed to the $8 million budget of 28 Days Later. The first film grossed an impressive $84.6 million against such a relatively minuscule budget.
Boyle also revealed that his 2007 space horror film Sunshine, also starring Cillian Murphy, was initially envisioned as a trilogy; however, its disappointing box office result prevented him and writer Alex Garland (also a filmmaker in his own right, having directed films such as Ex Machina, Civil War, and Warfare) from going ahead with it.
Had they gone ahead with it, it would've been, in Boyle's words, 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," he said.
Boyle also added there was an extraordinary idea in Sunshine 2, which he was reluctant to share because Alex Garland might reuse it. "What was unique about the first film and was the best choice we ever made about it was that it featured entirely British. It was just that land. And it was extraordinary thinking about something that powerful breaking out in that particular space, and it had to be dealt with by the inhabitants of that land. And we decided to concentrate on that. There's nothing wrong with 28 Weeks Later. We just decided not to follow those story elements. And it's a bold choice we decided to declare upfront by saying the Rage Virus was driven back from mainland Europe."
28 Years Later will open in theatres in India, US, UK and Canada on June 20.
