While 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle was already a household name thanks to Trainspotting, for many, the 2002 post-apocalyptic horror film was their introduction to screenwriter Alex Garland. The surprise international horror flick would springboard Garland forward onto such projects as Dredd, Ex Machina, and Annihilation.
A sequel to 28 Days Later would follow in 2007, titled 28 Weeks Later. However, Boyle did not return to direct and Garland did not write the screenplay. The sequel would earn high praise from critics and turn a tidy profit at the box office, despite not quite reaching the same heights as its predecessor.
Over the years, there have been talks of a third entry in the franchise, aptly titled 28 Months Later but its development never really got off the ground due to issues surrounding who actually owned the rights to the IP.
It seems those years in development limbo have prompted Boyle and Garland to revisit the project and the pair recently spoke to Inverse, revealing that they're looking to bypass 28 Months Later and jump to 28 Years Later.
"A few years ago an idea materialized in my head for what would be really 28 Years Later," said Garland. "Danny always liked the idea."
Boyle added that if Garland did not wish to direct the pic, he wouldn't be opposed to jumping in the director's chair himself.
"So we’re talking about it quite seriously, quite diligently,” explained Boyle. “If he doesn’t want to direct it himself I’ll be well up for it if we can execute a similarly good idea.”
Garland would go on to reveal that he wasn't exactly the biggest fan of 28 Weeks Later so perhaps his misgivings about the sequel will be enough motivation to make the Academy Awards-nominated writer also direct. "I resisted [making a sequel] for a long time because there were things about 28 Weeks that bugged me,” said Garland. “I just thought, ‘F*ck that. I’d rather try to write a different story in a different world."
In a top secret British lab, peace activists release a monkey infected with a highly powerful and contagious test virus, despite the begging of the scientist in charge of operations. 28 days later, the infection has gone from one monkey to the majority of the UK, the host of the virus is lost in a murderous state, losing all logic and instinct. Jim, a courier, wakes up from his coma in an empty hospital, to find that the streets have been heavily littered and are empty. His fear began when he saw no one. His terror erupted when he realized he wasn't alone.