28 Years Later 3 is officially in development, and Danny Boyle is somehow still trying to get the money for it. After The Bone Temple underperformed at the box office—making just $58 million compared to the first film’s $151 million—Sony got nervous. But Boyle and Alex Garland are persistent, and Cillian Murphy is ready to return as Jim, so the trilogy might actually get its ending.
28 Years Later 3 has been the plan since 2024, when Boyle and Garland announced they were filming the first two movies back-to-back. The idea was ambitious: a new trilogy set decades after the original outbreak, exploring how humanity has adapted to living alongside the infected. The first film focused on a boy’s coming-of-age journey through the apocalypse. The second, directed by Nia DaCosta, introduced a cult that worshipped the virus. Now the third needs to tie it all together, preferably with Murphy’s character finally returning to the screen.
The Bone Temple’s poor performance wasn’t because it was bad—it actually has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than the first film’s 88%. The problem was marketing and scheduling. DaCosta herself explained that audiences were confused, thinking they had already seen the sequel because of the quick six-month turnaround. “People were like, ‘Oh yeah, I saw that last summer!’ I’m like, ‘No, no, so there’s a sequel!'” she told Empire. When your audience can’t tell your movies apart, that’s a problem.
28 Years Later 3 would bring back Jim, the original protagonist from 2002’s 28 Days Later, who appeared only briefly at the end of The Bone Temple. Murphy has said he’s “ready anyway” to finish the story, and his return would give the marketing team something concrete to sell. The man has an Oscar now. His face on the poster moves tickets.
Boyle shot the first film on iPhones, which was either genius or a cost-cutting measure depending on who you ask. The ultra-wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio made the infected feel unpredictable, always lurking at the edges of the frame. For the third film, he’ll presumably return to similar techniques, though hopefully with a budget that reflects the trilogy’s ambitions rather than its anxiety.
Garland is currently busy directing Elden Ring, which doesn’t come out until 2028, so 28 Years Later 3 might have to wait. But the story needs an ending. The infected are evolving, the cult is growing, and Jim’s return promises answers about what happened to him in the decades since we last saw him. Boyle and Garland created one of the most influential horror franchises of the century. They deserve to finish it properly.
Watch 28 Years Later 3 when it finally arrives, and catch up on 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later to prepare for Jim’s return.
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