Image via Sony Pictures Releasing
You can almost tell that Nicolas Cage would love playing a zombie. He played a zombie-hunting samurai once, but imagine how much fun he’d have had as the Alpha in Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later. The movie is performing splendidly at the box office, despite mixed reactions from audiences. It managed to fend off competition from Universal’s M3GAN 2.0 last week, and has now overtaken the biggest horror breakout of 2024 at the global box office. We’re talking about Longlegs, which starred Cage in a memorable supporting role. Longlegs concluded its box office run with a little over $126 million worldwide, against a reported budget of less than $10 million. It emerged as the highest-grossing film in distributor Neon’s history, and the biggest independent film of 2024. Cage earned excellent reviews for his performance as the titular serial killer, while his co-star, Maika Monroe, further cemented her scream queen credentials. Longlegs is currently sitting at an excellent 86% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “Saturated in disquieting mood while leveraging a nightmarishly gonzo performance by Nicolas Cage, Longlegs is a satanic horror that effectively instills panic.” The horror-thriller has now been overtaken globally by 28 Years Later, which cost roughly six times as much and was distributed by one of the major players, Sony. The movie serves as a long-awaited follow-up to the original 28 Days Later and its sequel, 28 Weeks Later, both of which made a combined total of $150 million worldwide. 28 Years Later should be able to pass that benchmark by itself; it needs to, if Boyle wants Sony to green-light a third installment that he intends to direct. A direct sequel, titled 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, has already been shot, and is set for a January release.
A Follow-Up to ’28 Years Later’ Is Already In the Can
Directed by Nia DaCosta, The Bone Temple will likely explore the creepy cult introduced at the end of 28 Years Later, not to mention the mysterious character played by Ralph Fiennes. 28 Years Later opened to positive reviews, and is currently sitting at a “certified fresh” 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “28 Years Later taps into contemporary anxieties with the ferocious urgency of someone infected with Rage Virus, delivering a haunting and visceral thrill ride that defies expectations.” You can watch the film in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
28 Years Later
Release Date
June 20, 2025
Runtime
126 minutes
Director
Danny Boyle
Producers
Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew
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