Long delayed sequel finally has some bite.
By Brandon Wolfe
Shortly after the release of 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, the well-received sequel to Danny Boyle’s 2003 horror hit 28 Days Later, there was talk of a second sequel, predictably titled 28 Months Later. Boyle has sporadically mentioned the possibility of revisiting his world where a virus has reduced much of the population into rage-filled zombies (except they’re not dead; it’s weird), but the film never materialized. That may be about to change.
Alex Garland, the writer of 28 Days Later as well as the recent Ex Machina and cult favorite Dredd, has stumbled upon a concept that has potentially reinvigorated the sequel. “The rights to 28 Days were frozen, effectively, because they were shared between Danny [Boyle], [producer] Andrew [McDonald], myself, and Fox,” Garland said. “After the second one, none of us really wanted to do another. Fox may or may not have, I don't know.”
As for what changed his mind, Garland goes on to say, “About two years ago, Danny started collaborating on the potential to make Trainspotting 2, another sequel. In that conversation, an idea for 28 Months arrived. I had a sort of weird idea that popped into my head. Partly because of a trip I'd taken. I had this thought, and I suggested it to Andrew and Danny, but I also said I don't want to work on it. I don't really want to play a role, and Andrew said, 'Leave it to me.' So he's gone off and is working on it.”
Garland did not reveal any hint for what his concept would entail, but he does indicate that it won’t be an overly complicated premise. “It's pretty simple. Don't you think those are, in a way, better? Because there is no momentum now, and you've had an organic, real spark about where I can take this. And it just popped into your head, kind of thing. Rather than, ‘Okay, I'm going to make a sequel.’"
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