A trailer for Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” has been released. What I find most intriguing about this film is that it was shot on an iPhone 15. Above is our first look at Cillian Murphy, who is now a zombie?
‘28 Years’ has a budget of $75M which makes it the priciest film ever to be shot on a smartphone. Boyle was aided by his go-to cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “28 Days Later,” “Trainspotting,” “127 Hours”).
Principal photography for “28 Years Later” wrapped in August, and apparently the cast and crew had to sign NDAs not to reveal that the film was shot with smartphones. However, the use of an iPhone 15 on Boyle’s upcoming sequel was today confirmed to WIRED by several people connected with the film.
2002’s “28 Days Later” was shot on digital — one of the first Hollywood films shot with a Canon XL-1. Ever since then, digital has become the norm for many filmmakers.
There have only been a handful of notable films to have been shot on an iPhone, including Sean Baker’s Tangerine (2015) and Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane (2018), but these indies only had a fraction of the budget Boyle is using on ‘28 Years.’
“28 Years Later” is set to star Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Charlie Hunman. Cillian Murphy, who starred in the original, is said to have a very small role in the film. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Nia DaCosta recently wrapped production on the follow-up, titled “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.”
Earlier in the year, after a heated bidding war, Sony prevailed and acquired the rights to Boyle’s “28 Years Later” trilogy which will be written by Alex Garland. It was a hot package, and a few studios were in the running for the rights, including Warner Bros. Sony is producing and distributing.
The last film Boyle directed was 2019’s “Yesterday,” a sweet but very slight Beatles-themed romcom that felt like an anomaly within Boyle’s usually grim filmography.