28 Days Later writer has a “really cool idea” for a third movie
By Ashley Hurst
We’ve had 28 Days Later and we’ve had 28 Weeks Later… is it finally time for 28 Months Later? A third movie in the zombie franchise has been discussed for years. Every now and then a rumor pops up that it may be coming, but nothing has ever happened. Might that be about to change? While we shouldn’t get our hopes up just yet, writer Alex Garland hasn’t stopped planning.
Directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later premiered in 2002, breathing new life into the zombie genre. It spawned a successful sequel, 28 Weeks Later, in 2007, but never returned for a third installment, even as we got novels and comic books. Clearly, the fascination with the Rage virus remains strong.
Making a threequel would require a ton of people getting on board. “It’s possible,” Garland said in a recent interview with Yahoo. “Everybody needs to want to do it, and every now and then — partly because I think about paying off the mortgage or something like that — I think, ‘Hm, that might be a good idea.’ But me personally I never quite have enough motivation to follow it through.”
On the bright side, Garland revealed that he does indeed have a good idea for a third film. “I have got a really cool idea for [a sequel] but it’s a much bigger movie,” he said. “One of the things about 28 Days Later is that it was small and punk, and this idea is less small and punk. But me and [director Danny Boyle] speak about it, every couple of years it comes up.”
28 Weeks Later definitely upped the ante from the original. And at the end of the sequel, we saw an ominous scene showing the Rage virus taking over Paris. I’m sure that, at some point, every fan has imagined how things continued. It always felt like they were setting up a sequel:
A third “28 Days Later” movie wouldn’t be “fresh” anymore
On the other hand, Garland believes that the movies have already achieved what they set out to do. A new movie wouldn’t generate the same buzz. “A long time has passed, and 28 Days Later when it arrived was kind of fresh, and I don’t think it’s fresh anymore,” he said. “And I think, speaking of conversations, 28 Days Later joined the zombie conversation, that genre. And part of me thinks it did its thing, which is great. It was nice to be part of that, really.”
Given that studios are still intent on pumping millions of dollars into zombie projects — look no further than HBO’s The Last of Us — perhaps one day we’ll see Garland’s idea come to life. Let’s just hope that if it does happen, it’ll arrive less than 28 years after the original.
Next. Game of Thrones star says The Last of Us is “biggest thing” she’s done. dark
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