NIa DaCosta had nothing but praise for Alex Garland’s script for “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” but she did request one change as she took over directing duties for the sequel…
In January the sequel to “28 Years Later” this theaters with “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” being unleashed but this time Danny Boyle won’t be behind the camera.
With production already underway on “28 Years Later,” Boyle knew filming the sequels back-to-back was the best idea possible, especially with the same locations being used, but he recognized there was no logistical way for him to do both. So Nia DaCosta — best known for her work on the “Candyman” reboot as well as “The Marvels” — took on the job to direct the new sequel from a script written by Alex Garland.
DaCosta told Boyle right away that she had to direct the film with her own style, which he appreciated, but she also praised Garland’s script after he wrote the original “28 Days Later” along with “28 Years Later.” The new sequel “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” follows Spike after he leaves the safety and security of his island home and returns to the mainland where he interacts with the infected as well as a group of strangers led by an enigmatic cult-like figure named Jimmy.
DaCosta was excited to direct what Garland wrote but she did request one change that had to get incorporated into her finished film.
“Making the ‘28 Years Later’ sequel was one of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve had,” DaCosta said at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. “One of the issues I had with ‘Candyman’ and ‘Marvels’ was the lack of a really solid script, which is always gonna just wreak havoc on the whole process. But Alex Garland hands you a script, and you’re like, ‘This is amazing.’ You don’t really have to change it, although I did, I basically asked for more infected. That was, like, my big contribution.”
Beyond asking for more infected in her film, DaCosta admits she walked into an ideal scenario with a returning cast and a story that was already so meticulously plotted from “28 Years Later.”
She was able to play around in that universe and make it her own film and DaCosta said the entire experience was still collaborative with Boyle and Garland.
“I inherited an amazing cast, then I was given the leeway to cast the rest of the film” DaCosta said. “There were a couple of locations I inherited. I was given the leeway to develop all the other locations. Some of it overlapped, like the character Samson — Danny and I would collaborate a bit on the look, but at the end of the day, Danny shoots so different from the way I shoot.”
It turns out directing the “28 Years Later” sequel was a dream come true for DaCosta after she grew up loving the original “28 Days Later,” which transformed Boyle and Garland into household names as well as serving as the launching pad for Cillian Murphy years before he became an Oscar winner.
“’28 Days Later’ was one of my seminal films growing up… I had the DVD in my house,” DaCosta said. “I watched it all the time. Obviously, fell in love with Cillian Murphy. And Danny Boyle is a bonkers fucking filmmaker.
“No one else can make a Danny Boyle film, and that was actually the biggest part of my pitch for the movie. I was like, ‘No one else can do that and I don’t have any intention of doing that. Here’s how I see the film, what do you think?’”
Boyle had nothing but compliments for what DaCosta put together while he was promoting the release of “28 Years Later,” which went onto earn over $150 million at the box office.
If all goes well with “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” Boyle hopes to return for a third and final film in his trilogy, which would also reunite him with Murphy, who is expected to reprise his role from the original film in the sequel.
“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is due for release in January 2026.
