Support NeoGAF

[Represent.]

Good grab for Sony. This is easily my most anticipated film.

28 Years Later, the hot package from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, has landed at Sony.

The Culver City-based studio has come out on top after a protracted bidding war to win the rights to the sequel package to the 2002 horror classic 28 Days Later.

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have reunited to write and direct the sequel, which also comes with a Part 2, to be written by Garland. Boyle would only direct the first project, with the sequel's director to be determined at a later stage. Cillian Murphy, whose career was launched thanks to the original movie, is also returning, as an executive producer. The Oppenheimer star could also possibly act in the project, although details are being quarantined.

WME, which reps Boyle and Garland, took the package out to the Hollywood studios and streamers almost three weeks ago, generating immediate interest and intense wooing. In the end, the bidding came down to Warner Bros. and Sony. The idea of having the original creators return to lead a sequel or two had some comparing it to George Miller returning to Mad Max with 2015's Fury Road.

The deal details are unavailable. Each movie would have a budget in the $60 million range but it's unclear how goalposts or compensation may have changed during the high-stakes negotiations. A theatrical release was of great import to the filmmakers.

The pair will also produce, as would original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of onetime studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel. Bernie Bellew is also producing.
Click to shrink...

Sony had a unique weapon in the auction: a 30-year-plus relationship between studio head Tom Rothman and Boyle. Rothman founded Fox Searchlight in the 1990s and also ran Fox's film division in the early 2000s, working with Boyle on eight movies, ranging from A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach (which was Boyle's first collaboration with Garland) to the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours.

Zombie Sequel ’28 Years Later’ Lands at Sony (Exclusive)​

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are behind the long-gestating '28 Days Later' sequel, which could launch a trilogy of zombie films and may return Cillian Murphy to his breakout role.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Represent.]

60 million per film is a good budget. Expensive enough to have great production value, not expensive enough to litter it with horrible CGI everywhere like WWZ. This should keep things practical.

 

[eerik9000]

Huh, for some reason I had automatically assumed this would be with Diznee through their Fox acquisition, like the first two, but I guess not.

 

[Krappadizzle]

That's awesome. I loved the first 2 movies, and was sure even back then after the 2nd we'd be getting something like this soon after. Very cool.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

is there a reason they are going with Years and not months?

28 years is a MASSIVE gap of time. makes me think they just wanted a clean slate essentially and not be held to anything the first two established, which isnt to say they wont use anything from the first two, just that they arent confined creatively/script wise.

already anticipating the "28 decades later"....

 

[VulcanRaven]

I think the sequel 28 Weeks later is better than the first movie.

 

[jason10mm]

Bah, call me when its 28 DECADES LATER about the zombie horde (we'll just call them The Flood) fighting some rag tag remnant humans (they've regressed to a more war like culture, based on some old Greek nation state or something) that have also been fighting this alien race called The Pact.

Or 28 MILLENIA LATER as the forces of zombie chaos threaten all mankind and a crack military unit goes rogue, maybe call it the Set Succession

 

[Insane Metal]

Awesome!

 

[Doom85]

is there a reason they are going with Years and not months?

28 years is a MASSIVE gap of time. makes me think they just wanted a clean slate essentially and not be held to anything the first two established, which isnt to say they wont use anything from the first two, just that they arent confined creatively/script wise.

already anticipating the "28 decades later"....

If Cillian Murphy does return as his character from the first one, it would be rather ridiculous to act like he’s only a little over two years older from how he looked in 2002.

Personally, I’m going to pass for now. I know the second film has its fans, but I loved the definitive ending of the first film. Never felt the need for a sequel in terms of that film.

 

[RJMacready73]

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have reunited to write and direct the sequel

This right here is absolute music to my ears, cannot wait to see this, those two will knock it out of the park

 

[Liljagare]

Holy crap, it is happening? Cool.

 

[Raonak]

although details are being quarantined.

I see what they did there

 

[Ownage]

This was the first film I ever saw with Naomie Harris.

How you doin.

 

[Doom85]

This was the first film I ever saw with Naomie Harris.

How you doin.

Oh shit, never realized that was her!

I first really noticed her in the Pirates sequels, but then especially Skyfall. That shaving scene, damn, wish I could have been Daniel Craig in that moment.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Sony won the bid?

 

[SF Kosmo]

Sean Baker shot Tangerine on iPhone 4. Not as big of a filmmaker as Danny Boyle but he should be because he makes amazing movies.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Shot on Sony Xperia 1 VI just doesn't have the same ring to it.