28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland finally reunited to make a sequel to their zombie (or, if you prefer, infected people) movie classic. 28 Years Later, which is meant to launch a whole trilogy of 28 Days Later sequels, reached theatres at the end of June, and the second chapter in the trilogy, 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple, is scheduled to be released on January 16, 2026. Garland also wrote the screenplays for the sequels that will come after 28 Years Later – but for the second movie, Boyle has passed the helm over to Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta for the sequel. With just a few days to go before a wider audience gets to see the movie, extremely positive early reactions continue to drop online. Our own review will be available to read tomorrow.
The Story Continues
Boyle might circle back to direct 28 Years Later Part III, which currently has Cillian Murphy in talks to reprise his role from 28 Days Later. 28 Years Later made $150 million at the global box office, but seemed to have trouble connecting with the audience. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray gave 28 Years Later a 7/10 review, and when we got a second opinion from Kier Gomes, he gave it a 6.5.
Empire has previously let us know that in The Bone Temple, we should expect more danger from the Jimmies as young hero Spike (Alfie Williams) is brought into their ranks, while Ralph Fiennes’ benevolent Dr Kelson strikes up an unlikely kinship with marauding Alpha infected Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Among it all, audiences will learn more about the bizarre belief system Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) has constructed for himself – channeled through pop cultural memories from his childhood, like Teletubbies, Power Rangers, cricket, and Jimmy Savile; who, in 2002, had not been unveiled as the monstrous predator he truly was.
Weird
DaCosta told Empire, “My movie is quite… weird. It’s surprising. There were multiple moments reading the script where my jaw dropped, literally.” O’Connell added that The Bone Temple is the “weird, demented, relative cousin of what we’ve seen before, in a way I’m really f*cking proud of. Because it’s rooted in soul, and the what-ifs. Massive what-ifs. And it’s f*cking shocking.“
Rating
28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple has officially earned an R rating for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout, and brief drug use.
Reactions
Here’s a fresh batch of early reactions:
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is fucking insane. I cannot believe this is a January movie.
Masterclass of tone tightroping. Horrifying, hilarious and hopeful.
We're so back pic.twitter.com/sgmWTLBshd
— Modern Mythos (@modernmythos_) January 8, 2026
Are you looking forward to 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple? Take a look at the early reactions, then let us know by leaving a comment below. And come back tomorrow to check out our review!
