’28 Days Later’ Writer Says New Sequel Probably Won’t Happen

It’s hard to understate the impact that 2002’s 28 Days Later had on not just the zombie subgenre, but how it has influenced countless horror films in the years since. Unfortunately, recent comments from that film’s writer, Alex Garland, hint that a third film in the franchise will likely never come to fruition.

During a recent Reddit AMA, a fan asked Garland about whether or not he had plans for a new film, to which the director replied, “Kind of, but doubt it will ever happen.”

Much like George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead series, 28 Days Later seemed like the perfect formula to replicate a zombie-like infection over various points in time, as the 2007 sequel was called “28 Weeks Later.” Rumors have swirled about a follow-up, 28 Months Later, or a prequel, 28 Hours Later, but after more than a decade in stagnation, neither film seems likely for the franchise.

The original film, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson, featured the accidental development of a virus that, rather than eradicating rage from humans, caused those feelings of rage to completely consume a victim and turn them into a mindless killing machine. The guerilla-style filmmaking and embrace of digital cameras marked an evolution in what could be done by independent filmmakers with minimal budgets.

Prior to 28 Days Later, zombies had been relegated to being mocked within the horror community, as it seemed as though every idea featuring slow-moving, lumbering corpses had been done. Boyle and Garland’s tweaks on the well-worn stereotype breathed new life into the subgenre, inspiring fast-moving zombie films like Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead and bringing familiar formulas into contemporary situations.

Garland might not seem hopeful that a third film in the series will come to fruition, but having written the first film and only serving as executive producer on the second film, it seems as though interest from the filmmakers themselves has waned.

In 2015, Garland did at least reveal he had some ideas on where the series could go.

“I had a sort of weird idea that popped into my head. Partly because of a trip I’d taken,” Garland shared with The Playlist. “I had this thought, and I suggested it to [producer] Andrew [Mcdonald] and Danny, but I also said I don’t want to work on it. I don’t really want to play a role, and Andrew said, ‘Leave it to me.’ So he’s gone off and is working on it.”

Stay tuned for any future developments with the 28 Days Later series.

[H/T Reddit]