The first full-length trailer has dropped for “28 Years Later,” Danny Boyle’s long-gestating sequel to “28 Days Later,” and here’s the kicker: it looks like it was shot entirely on an iPhone 15 because it was.
Yes, you read that correctly. The film reportedly carries a $80M budget, making it far and away the most expensive feature ever shot on a smartphone — a leap that’s equal parts groundbreaking and eyebrow-raising. Boyle reteams with longtime DP Anthony Dod Mantle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “28 Days Later,” “127 Hours”), who helped push digital boundaries two decades ago when the original film used the then-cutting-edge Canon XL-1. Now they’re pushing the envelope again — this time with a phone you can purchase at Best Buy.
The trailer gives us a glimpse of the stakes at hand. The plot seems to center on England’s remaining rage virus, which remains contained, and the rest of the world remains unaffected. The zombies have also evolved; they are much quicker and more primal.
The film stars Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Set nearly three decades after the outbreak of the "rage virus," the film follows a group of survivors living on a small island in Britain, isolated from the mainland by a heavily defended causeway. The story centers on a young boy (Williams) who embarks on a perilous journey to find a doctor who can save his dying mother (Comer).
Sony won a heated bidding war earlier this year for the “28 Years” trilogy. Yes, trilogy. The sequels are being written by Alex Garland, and the second film, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” has already wrapped under *Candyman” director Nia DaCosta, and set for release in January 2026.
The third film hasn’t been written or shot yet; in fact, it hasn’t even been greenlit by Sony, who is waiting to see how the first two films perform commercially. A promising sign had the teaser for ‘28 Years Later,’ released on December 10, 2024, amassing 60.2M global views within its first 24 hours, making it the most-watched horror trailer of 2024 and the second most-watched horror trailer of all time
It’s an intriguing pivot for Boyle, whose last feature was the featherweight Beatles rom-com “Yesterday” — a far cry from the bleak, blood-soaked urgency of his earlier work. With “28 Years Later,” he seems poised to return to his roots — only now, with a smartphone in hand.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.