28 Years Later is arriving over two decades after the release of the genre-defining zombie film 28 Days Later, and director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland are returning to the realm of horror with the long-awaited sequel. Essentially helping to jump-start the zombie craze of the 2000s, 28 Days Later follows an average bicycle courier named Jim (Cillian Murphy) who awakens from a month-long coma to find all of London has been besieged by a zombie rage virus. Eschewing the tropes of earlier zombie media, the walkers of 28 Days Later were faster, meaner, and more frightening than their predecessors.

Though Garland and Boyle were only involved peripherally, a sequel was released in 2007 entitled 28 Weeks Later which continued the post-apocalyptic story and was well-received. Meanwhile, the 28 Days Later franchise helped to bring the zombie film back into vogue, and is directly responsible for movies like the Dawn of the Dead remake, spoofs like Shaun of the Dead, and the ongoing Walking Dead universe. Now, Boyle and Garland are returning to deliver even more terror in 28 Years Later, and the threequel is just the start of a larger trilogy.

28 Years Later Latest News

A Second Full-Length Trailer Arrives

A few weeks after the footage arrived at CinemaCon 2025, the latest news arrives in the form of a second trailer for 28 Years Later. The two-minute trailer opens with soldiers entering a dark tunnel, only to be attacked by a raging zombie. It then cuts to the island where it's shown that life has found a delicate balance following the fall of the UK years before. Jamie is prepared to take his son Spike to the mainland, and he is issued a stark warning that no one will help him.

Various terrifying shots of the infected are shown, and like the first trailer, the poem "Boots" by Rudyard Kipling is read dramatically in time to the music. Dr. Kelson ominously says that there are multiple kinds of deaths, and they aren't all equal, while the text on the screen asks "How much time do we have left?" The trailer ends with a priest being attacked by infected as he happily calls them his children.

The 28 Years Later Trailer Secrets Explained

The Movie's Second Trailer Featured A Surprise

As if anticipation couldn't be high enough for the long-awaited horror threequel, the second trailer offered a secret for keen-eyed observers. Within hours of the trailer's premiere, viewers noticed mysterious symbols appearing on the screen periodically. They quickly deciphered the symbols as a code, and it translated into the Latin phrase "memento mori", which roughly means " you will die." They then took this phrase and entered it into the mysterious website, rageleaks.net, which unlocked a bevy of details about the movie.

The site is designed to look like some sort of conspiracy board, and features documents about the Lindisfarne Commune (the island featured in the film) as well as writings about the state of the world after the outbreak. The site may host more information as the movie gets closer to its release date, and at the top of the page is a counter which has apparently been running for nearly 28 years.

28 Years Later Release Date

The Zombie Franchise Returns In 2025

Though the wait was long for the sequel to finally arrive, 28 Years Later has been given a release date on the 2025 calendar. Assuming a key spot in Sony's summer release schedule, 28 Years Later will premiere on June 20, 2025. The summer is a perfect time for the returning franchise, and it has the chance to become a bona fide blockbuster. Meanwhile, the middle film in the trilogy also already has a release date, and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will debut on January 16, 2026.

28 Years Later Cast Details

Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Jodie Comer Star

The cast of 28 Years Later is beginning to take shape, though it is largely shrouded in mystery as well. Cillian Murphy starred in 28 Days Later and though his character survived, Jim was absent in the first sequel. Though he's attached as a producer, Murphy won't appear in 28 Years Later, though the door is open for him to appear in the sequels. New cast include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who will co-star alongside Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes.

Comer and Taylor-Johnson play a married couple, Isla and Jamie, who are raising their son, Spike (played by Alfie Williams). Jack O'Connell plays cult leader Sir Jimmy Crystal, and he will appear in all three movies in the planned trilogy. Fiennes' character, Dr. Kelson, is still largely shrouded in mystery, but he's described as a survivor of the outbreak. From his appearance in the trailer, it seems as if Kelson has adapted to the post-apocalyptic world for better or worse.

Erin Kellyman is set to play a character, but no further details are known. Edvin Ryding will play Swedish NATO soldier E. Sundqvist who finds his way to the English mainland during his patrols. It's currently unclear how Sundqvist factors into the plot, but the existence of NATO reveals there is still some form of government in the world beyond.

The known cast of 28 Years Later includes:

28 Years Later Story Details

Three Decades Of The Rage Virus

Though there were few details about the sequel throughout its production phase, the plot of 28 Years Later has now been revealed. With the 28 Days Later virus once again at the forefront of the story, the film catches up with the remnants of human society in the 30 years since the outbreak. A tight-knit community lives in isolation off the coast of England, where they avoid the ravages of the zombie plague that is still on the mainland. Isla and Jamie raise their children on the island, and their son Spike must venture forth as something of a rite of age.

This takes them to the mainland where they come face to face with the results of three decades of rage virus. While there's still a lot still unknown about the plot, there are quite a few details about where 28 Years Later fits into the canon. According to Andrew Macdonald, Alex Garland, and Danny Boyle, Britain has "paused" for the last 30 years, and was quarantined when the rage virus broke out. Even as the rest of the world moved on, Britain has become an isolated island.

The trio of Macdonald, Garland, and Boyle insist that the story of 28 Years Later doesn't ignore the ending of 28 Weeks Later where the virus is seen taking over Paris, but it isn't known what happened immediately after. If England is the only country isolated, it could be that got the virus under control before it could take over the European mainland. With the virus stuck in England, the burgeoning trilogy could explore what happens when it goes global.

28 Years Later is The First Of A Trilogy

The Middle Film Already Has A Release Date

28 Years Later may be one of the most anticipated horror sequels in recent memory, but it is hardly a standalone legacy sequel. Expanding the lore of the franchise even more, 28 Years Later is merely the first in a planned trilogy of films from the minds of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. While the first installment is simply called 28 Years Later, the second film will have the subtitle The Bone Temple. Furthermore, the second film already has a release date set for January 16, 2025.

Candyman's Nia DaCosta has directed 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

The third installment is somewhat less clear, and hasn't set an official title yet. However, it has been confirmed that Danny Boyle will sit in the director's chair. No details about the story are known yet, but it can be assumed that the third film will complete the overarching story started in 28 Years Later. Production hasn't begun on the third film, and Sony is likely waiting to see how well the first two movies do before they put the third into active development.

The 28 Years Later Trailers

Watch The Trailers Below

In December 2024, a teaser for 28 Years Later was revealed, though it was rather scant on details. The quick teaser features a mostly black screen with occasional flashes of images of an upside-down skull and the biohazard symbol. The teaser's only sound is the Morse code for the word "Tuesday," which suggests the reveal of a larger trailer.

A few days after the teaser dropped, the full trailer for 28 Years Later finally arrived along with a slew of interesting story details. After recapping the origins of the rage virus, the trailer then jumps forward to show what happened more than 10,000 days later. With a strict quarantine enforced, some survivors have created a new society on a heavily-fortified island. However, when a few residents decide to venture to the mainland, they discover a world of pure terror.

A second full trailer for 28 Years Later arrived in April 2025, and it gives even more clues about the post-apocalyptic world. Opening with a scene featuring soldiers being attacked by infected, it then transitions to the Lindisfarne Commune where they have established a balance. Jamie leads his son Spike out onto the mainland, and various scenes of zombies are shown. Dr. Kelson offers a chilling warning about death, as the trailer descends into chaos as the Rudyard Kipling poem "Boots" underscores everything.