28 Days Later Writer Teases Much “Bigger” Idea for Third Film

The premise of 28 Days Later inherently brought with it the potential for follow-ups, as 28 Weeks Later confirmed you could continue jumping forward in time to various stages of a zombie outbreak, with original writer Alex Garland teasing he has an even bigger idea for a potential third film. However, he also noted that the scope and scale of such a film means it might end up being too far from the original approach to the debut movie, though he and director Danny Boyle continue to keep the conversation alive whenever the subject has come up over the years.

“It’s possible. It’s one of those things … Everybody needs to want to do it and, every now and then, partly because I think about paying off my mortgage or something like that, I think, ‘Hmm, that would be a good idea.’ But then, me personally, never quite have enough motivation to follow it through,” Garland recently detailed to Yahoo! Entertainment.

The debut film was unleashed in 2002 and at a time in which the zombie subgenre had grown stagnant. The film’s unconventional approach not only to zombie lore but also its filmmaking sensibilities saw new potential in that realm, helping launch a new wave of zombie stories in various mediums.

“A long time has passed and 28 Days Later, when it arrived [it was] fresh, and I don’t think it’s fresh anymore,” the filmmaker pointed out. “I think it actually, speaking of conversations, 28 Days Later joined the zombie conversation, that genre. It did its thing, which is great. It was nice to be part of that, really.”

More than merely being open to a new installment, Garland even knows what that third film would potentially explore.

“I have got a really cool idea for it, but it’s a much bigger movie, and 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 Danny speak about it,” the filmmaker expressed. “Every couple of years it will come up, or going, ‘Do you want to do that?’ and then for some reason it never happens.”

Given that Boyle delivered Trainspotting in 1996 and then a sequel in 2017, it has been roughly the same time since he unleashed 28 Days Later, with it possibly being the right time for him to return to the series.

Stay tuned for details on the possible future of the 28 Days Later franchise.

Would you like to see a third film in the series? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!