The 2002 Danny Boyle and Alex Garland film Rage virus outbreak source killing and reanimating the living into the Infected, as opposed to only taking effect on the dead.

28 Days Later received the 2003 “Best Horror Film” Saturn Award along with an array of other accolades, as well as an impressive worldwide box office gross of $82,719,885. It's since reached iconic status, and the film boasts an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer. With this amount of critical acclaim, it's worth wondering why it's so hard to watch.

28 Days Later Is Currently Not Streaming Anywhere

Disney Had A Rights Issue

Disney originally lost the rights to the movie in 2002, and Sony never bothered to arrange a new deal with any third-party streaming service to make the first film available again. Strangely enough, due to the fact that the original film's 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later was financed by Searchlight Pictures, Disney wound up keeping the rights to the sequel in a roundabout way. This came down to Searchlight being a subsidiary of Fox, which Disney bought out back in March 2019.

Needless to say, being able to stream the sequel but not the original film in the now-trilogy is immensely frustrating, especially in light of the recent news of the 28 Years Later theatrical release date in June 2025. But long before the days of streaming, there were other (and in retrospect, perhaps more reliable) movie-watching methodologies at our disposal - DVDs, for one.

28 Day Later Is Not Available Through Physical Media Retailers Either

Disney Stopped Producing Hard Copies

Unfortunately, buying hard copies from a physical media retailer is also no longer an option for this, the Ark of the Covenant of zombie movies. 28 Days Later was pulled from production because of yet more rights issues, as Disney stopped producing hard copies of the original DVD.

The only way to obtain a copy at this point in time is to buy one secondhand – frequently for a casual $150-$200 for its out-of-print novelty. Those who are brave enough to search may choose to plumb the depths of second-hand shops or troll through sites like eBay, Amazon, or Facebook Marketplace – but soon, there will be an easier way to watch 28 Days Later.

28 Days Later Will Soon Have A Streaming Home

Sony Has Regained The Rights

Upon dropping a chilling trailer for 28 Years Later on December 10th, Sony announced (in an ittedly peculiar way) that the original movie would be available for streaming at some point before the June 2025 theatrical release of the 3rd film. Apparently, producer Andrew MacDonald bought back the rights to 28 Days Later back in February before turning around and selling them to Sony in anticipation of the release.

Sony now has a link available where you can to be updated once 28 Days Later is made available in digital format again. It is unclear whether this means the movie will be available for streaming, as the website mentions pre-ordering the film. The registration is also vague, providing no detail whatsoever on when this change will occur. Either way, having 28 Days Later accessible again – preferably before the release of the 3rd movie next summer! – is a welcome change for zombie horror fans everywhere.

Source: Forbes.com