28 Years Later and its planned sequels get a surprising update from producer Andrew Macdonald. Released in 2002, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later follows Cillian Murphy's Jim as he attempts to survive after the "Rage Virus" turns British citizens into zombie-like monsters. After a mixed-reviewed sequel from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo in 2007, Boyle is set to re-team with Murphy and original movie writer Alex Garland for the upcoming 28 Years Later, which is intended to serve as the first installment in a new trilogy.
Now, Macdonald reveals to THR that 28 Years Later has just wrapped filming. According to the producer, work on 28 Years Later Part II is also set to get underway imminently. The planned fifth film in the franchise, however, seems less concrete at this stage, though Macdonald seems hopeful. Check out his comment below:
“We’re making, hopefully, three more 28 films with the first one called 28 Years Later that Alex has written, and Danny has directed, and has finished shooting. Then we’re just about to start, tomorrow morning, actually, part two. And then we hope there’s gonna be a third part and it’s a trilogy.”
The plan is to complete the 28 X Later trilogy, with a 28 Years Later trilogy, taking it to five films. So the second in the trilogy is referring to the second 28 Years Later film, but also the fourth 28 X Later movie.
Yeah, I gotta agree. Except for its' bookends, the film lacked a sense of immediacy that the first one had in droves.
But that final shot, man... that one very last image...
I am aware it's a mental, faulty-memory mirage, but that moment alone raises this film's estimation in my incomplete recollection of it, when it came out... I might have even seen it in a theater, not quite sure. Might have rented it on DVD. It's a patchy, unraveling quilt, that's how bad my memory of it is... and the final image stands out.
Oh, but I have a MUCH more vivid memory of 28 Days Later, remember the plot with fairly clear detail, went to see it twice on a large screen.
And that, in a nutshell, is me agreeing with you.
EDIT: It's amazing when you think about it, Danny Boyle has such an incredible gut instinct, has managed to catch lightning in a bottle at least three times, and that's several times more than most directors.
Trainspotting.
28 Days Later.
Slumdog Millionaire.
Personally, I much prefer Sunshine over Slumdog and believe it has had a more lasting impact, but I remember it being ignored in its' day.
But I can tell you this: in my town, Sunshine hung on in the theater, word of mouth kept bringing people into the seats. One of 'em was me, twice.
No publicity to speak of. All word of mouth.
If Sunshine had come out in the past few years, it would be given an Oppenheimer/Nolan-style red carpet treatment.