"28 Years Later" Brings Back the Rage—and the Box Office Heat
Let’s talk about 28 Years Later —the horror event of the summer that’s tearing through theaters with a vengeance. Yes, Danny Boyle is back, and so is the Rage Virus, but this isn’t just another sequel. It’s a full-circle revival of the iconic 28 Days Later universe, and it’s doing more than just tapping into nostalgia—it’s dominating the conversation and climbing the box office charts in a big way.
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Currently opening to a solid $28 to $30 million across 3,444 theaters, 28 Years Later is pacing well ahead of other recent horror openers like Longlegs and even the 2022 Scream reboot. It pulled in $14 million just on Friday, including $5.8 million in Thursday previews—putting it ahead of A Quiet Place , Final Destination: Bloodlines , and even Scream VI in the same metric. That’s a serious statement for a genre film that skews older and dives into deeper, more cerebral storytelling.
Now, let’s get into the film itself. This isn't just another virus-run-amok flick. Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, the original creators, return for the first time since 2002’s 28 Days Later , and it shows. Their signature tension, pacing, and emotional resonance are back, along with a new kind of horror: evolved infected known as Alphas . They’re bigger, stronger, and far more terrifying than we’ve seen before. And at the heart of this chilling tale is Spike, a 12-year-old boy played by Alfie Williams, whose journey off his isolated home sets a deeply personal and terrifying chain of events into motion.
With a fresh Rotten Tomatoes critics score at 92%, audiences are a bit more mixed—PostTrak data suggests only a 54% "definite recommend"—but men over 25, the franchise’s core fanbase, are showing up strong and rating it high. It’s definitely not a crowd-pleasing popcorn flick. It’s grim, it's gory, and it’s emotionally intense. But that's exactly why it's sticking.
And just when you think it’s all said and done, the movie drops a bizarre and fascinating epilogue that sets up 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple , due in January 2026. A new faction—Jimmy and the "Jimmies," a cult-like group of survivors—rescues Spike, setting the stage for a much larger, more symbolic showdown in the sequels. If you’re wondering where this is going, think less about zombies and more about humanity’s ongoing dance with survival, power, and moral decay.
In a crowded summer lineup that includes Elio opening to $22M and How to Train Your Dragon still reigning at #1, 28 Years Later isn’t just holding its ground—it’s digging in. It’s proof that horror, when done with depth and vision, still has the power to rattle audiences and make serious box office noise.
This isn't just another horror sequel. It’s a resurrection—and it’s only just begun.
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