Alex Garland Says ‘28 Years Later’ Was Inspired by ‘The Last Of Us’

Oh, boy. Here comes “28 Days Later” writer Alex Garland saying that “The Last Of Us” video game was “better” than his own 2002 zombie film, in a conversation with its creator Neil Druckmann.

In an episode of Sony’s Creator To Creator series, Garland told Druckmann: “Let me say this: The Last of Us is better than “28 Days Later,” or at least the writing is. I’m not going to talk about directing, that would be a silly thing. So not that”.

He continued: “I know what 28 Days is, I know what I did. I know what that process was. The thing about The Last of Us, I was like, ‘Oh, this is so much more sophisticated and moving. It was moving. I’m not dissing 28 Days, I’m very proud of it. It’s a nice part of my life. But seriously, “The Last of Us “ is on another level – so yeah, of course I was influenced by it.”

Garland would go on to say that the HBO show, based on the video game, inspired his writing process for the film’s sequel. “It was nice for me to feel like someone’s saying ‘raise your game’” he said.

In “28 Years Later,” Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Isla (Jodie Comer), and their 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) are part of a community on Holy Island, connected to the UK mainland by a causeway only briefly accessible when the tide recedes each day. However, it soon comes time for Spike to take a “rite-of-passage trip” beyond the safety of Holy Island, to experience, with his own set of eyes, the “true state of the nation.”

Garland swears the trilogy is not a “cash-grab,” but rather story-driven. “This is very narratively ambitious. Danny [Boyle] and I understood that,” he explains. “We tried to condense it, but its natural form felt like a trilogy.”

‘28 Years’ hits theatres June 20, 2025. The sequel, ‘The Bone Temple,’ is scheduled for January 16 2026 release.