Netflix’s rotating library of content means that new movies are arriving with frequency. Not only do new films arrive in droves at the start of the month but thanks to deals like what Netflix has with Sony Pictures, new movies sometimes surprise drop on the service with little fanfare. This year alone has seen films like Karate Kid: Legends and Until Dawn go straight from theaters to streaming on Netflix, and this past weekend was no exception. No sooner had 28 Years Later premiered on the service before it became the #1 movie on Netflix, and those who watched the film this weekend should know the sequel movie is happening soon.
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When 28 Years Later was first confirmed to the world, the highly-anticipated sequel from Danny Boyle and Alex Garland wasn’t not announced as being an isolated story. In fact, development on the movie revealed that it was just the first of three movies in a series, all of which would be interlinked and developed in tandem. As production on 28 Years Later wrapped, filming on its direct follow-up began, with the Nia DaCosta-directed 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple already premiering its first trailer earlier this year.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Plot Revealed
Audiences that tuned in to 28 Years Later this weekend on Netflix had to confront a final sequence that seemed to come from completely out of left field, but is in fact a clear set-up for what will follow. As Alfie Williams’ Spike is confronted with a dead end street and being pursued by infected, he’s saved by a surprising gaggle of warriors, the track-suit clad, blonde-highlight wearing gang known as the Jimmies. Like an episode of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers they fly in, flipping, kicking, and swinging weapons until the infected are defeated.
The answer to what’s going on in this scene, and how it influences the 28 Years Later sequel is two-fold. First is that the adult Jimmy we see in the scene, leader of the gang and played by Sinners star Jack O’Connell, has his story revealed in the opening scene of the film as a young boy does his best to escape the infection, hiding in the shadow of both his childhood and the early 2000s.
The second is the influence on this gang is clearly inspired by Jimmy Savile, the once beloved BBC presenter whose legacy was totally disgraced after hundreds of sexual abuse allegations were investigated by police after his death. In the world of 28 Years Later though, that investigation never occurred, and as far as this post-apocalyptic kid gang are concerned, Jimmy Savile remained a saint.
More importantly than the focus of the Jimmies in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is the fact that the sequel will expand on yet another character from the first film, Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson. A former physician, Kelson is the one who built and operates the titular Bone Temple in the first movie and the second film is poised to not only expand on his backstory but reveal how the infected are continuing to evolve.
28 Years Later Sequel Release Date (And Netflix Streaming)
As of this writing, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is scheduled to premiere exclusively in movie theaters on January 16, 2026. That may seem like a longtime from now, fittingly the release date is exactly 28 weeks after the firs movie’s theatrical debut, but when we consider how long it will take for the movie to premiere on Netflix. Assuming that 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple sticks to a similar timeframe for when it will premiere on the streamer after playing in theaters, roughly three months, fans that watched 28 Years Later this weekend on Netflix will likely need to wait until April of 2026 to see the sequel on the streamer.
The biggest question remains, what is the title for the third 28 Years Later movie, and when is it coming out? Both the first and second movies in the series were shot back-to-back, but production hasn’t even started on the third film. Danny Boyle has confirmed his intention to return and direct the third movie, but updates on its fate remain in the air.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
