28 Years Later is coming to cinemas next year, and we finally have the first trailer for the eagerly-awaited new movie.
Sony gave fans a double treat ahead of Christmas by releasing the 28 Years Later trailer and also making 28 Days Later available to watch at home, marking the first time it's been available digitally for several years.
28 Years Later was officially confirmed in January 2024 with Boyle directing and Alex Garland also returning to write the threequel. The duo worked together on 28 Days Later, but only served as executive producers on sequel 28 Weeks Later.
What's more, 28 Years Later will mark the start of a new trilogy of movies set in this world. The sequel was again written by Garland, but Boyle is only a producer with Nia DaCosta directing.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here's everything you need to know about the long-awaited 28 Years Later.
28 Years Later release date: When is 28 Years Later released?
28 Years Later will be released in UK and US cinemas on June 20, 2025 assuming that there aren't any delays.
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Filming took place from May 2024 until late July 2024. Barring any reshoots, everything seems to be on track for that June 2025 release.
We also now know that the sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which was filmed back-to-back with the first movie, will be released in cinemas on January 16, 2026.
28 Years Later trailer: Watch the 28 Years Later trailer here!
As mentioned above, Sony released the first trailer for 28 Years Later in December 2024, giving us an ominous first look at the new movie.
The trailer gave us first looks at Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, as well as an unexpected Teletubbies cameo. But the biggest reaction was speculation over whether Cillian Murphy's Jim appeared as an infected in it (more on that in a bit).
If you missed it above, check out the 28 Years Later trailer below:
Is Cillian Murphy going to be in 28 Years Later?
We've got good news and even better news. Cillian Murphy is involved with the new movie both in-front and behind the camera.
Since the movie was announced, we knew that Murphy would act as an executive producer on 28 Years Later. It was then confirmed by Sony boss Tim Rothman in May 2024 that Murphy would reprise his role as Jim.
Rothman teased that Jim is back "in a surprising way and in a way that grows", so we'll wait and see what that means.
Fans thought they had spotted Jim as an infected person in the first trailer, but it was later revealed to be an infected character played by art dealer Angus Neill in a cameo role.
So we're now still waiting to see exactly how Jim returns... unless they're all lying to us.
28 Years Later cast: Who's in 28 Years Later?
Alongside Murphy's return as Jim, 28 Years Later has some major new names attached.
Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes were the first names to have signed up to the movie, although we haven't had any character details yet, even after the first trailer landed.
We also don't know whether the trio will be seen in all three planned movies or just the first one.
In May 2024, Jack O'Connell joined the cast and, according to Deadline, he's set to play a supporting role in the first movie before taking a lead role on in the sequel.
They've since been joined by Erin Kellyman, but it's unclear whether she'll just be in 28 Years Later or will also play a part in its sequel.
We'll wait and see whether any of the surviving characters from 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later will return in the new movie alongside Jim.
Imogen Poots, who played Tammy in 28 Weeks Later, certainly seems keen for a return. "I loved working with that group of people, I mean, I'd jump at that," she said in March 2024, although she did point out a potential flaw:
"But I'm confused because if it's years later, then I suppose with a zombie apocalypse, everyone gets free Botox, because otherwise we're all going to be looking ancient, right?"
28 Years Later plot: What will 28 Years Later be about?
Along with the first trailer, we got the official synopsis for 28 Years Later – although it's still a bit light on details.
"It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected," it reads.
"One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway.
"When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well."
From the first trailer, we have a feeling that Taylor-Johnson's character is the one who leaves the small island, but that's just speculation from us.
In October 2024, Fiennes let slip that he's playing a doctor in 28 Years Later.
"It centres on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother. He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them hiding in forests and hills and woods are the infected," he teased.
"But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good."
28 Weeks Later ended with the rage virus spreading to France and beyond, so expect to see a whole new world in the movie. We can also expect to see the three movies connected by one story, rather than be standalone stories like the first two movies.
"A whole idea for a trilogy just sort of came – bing! – into my head," Garland told The Guardian in March 2024.
He's also revealed a surprise inspiration for the first movie: Ken Loach's 1969 coming-of-age masterpiece Kes.
"I've just written and delivered a script for Danny Boyle which is 28 Years Later. We made a film well over 20 years ago, 28 Days Later, and when I wrote 28 Days Later, one of the things I did was rip off a novel called Day of the Triffids," he told Alamo Drafthouse.
"In the film script I delivered to Danny, what I did was I ripped off this film called Kes. A very unexpected thing to rip off in a zombie movie. The script I've delivered and Kes both are focused around the experience of a young lad."
Garland added that 28 Years Later also shares similarities with Kes with "slightly more subtle things to do with landscape and humans and nature".
Mostly though, it's the young lead character, so expect to maybe see the entire trilogy focus on this character. We just don't know who that is right now as it doesn't sound like the role for any of the announced cast yet.
We do know though that Comer's character is a Geordie and she's been preparing for the role by watching clips of Cheryl on The X Factor.
28 Years Later is released in cinemas on June 20, 2025.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
