London’s Leicester Square was a no-go zone Wednesday night as the cast and crew of Danny Boyle‘s zombie sequel 28 Years Later descended on the Odeon Luxe theater.
Biohazard warnings surrounded fans and guests at the central London cinema. Among the talent talking to press on the blood-stained carpet was the film’s stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and young newcomer Alfie Williams, as well as director Boyle and writer Alex Garland.
It’s been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected.
A small community living off the coast of Northumbria, Britain, is connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. Tough-guy Jamie (Taylor-Johnson) has raised his 12-year-old son, Spike (Williams) with the mettle to send an arrow through an infected’s neck if needs be. But when Spike learns there might be someone beyond the island who can help his ailing mother (Comer), he risks everything to find them.
“Because 23 years had passed, it felt like we could be take real risks with it,” Boyle told The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet about his new film. “And our ambition was to try and make as an original a film as the first one when it came out… The upgrades on the infected are a privilege to film and to witness.” He smiled, “I think people will enjoy the upgrades.”
Comer told THR she was surprised by how moved she was by the zombie flick. “It’s horror, but I was struck by how moved I was. There was so much levity. The script felt so rich and also really at the centre of it is this family dynamic, this relationship between mother and son, which is not your usual relationship.”
“It was amazing to be led by Danny,” she continued. “Selfishly, to work with Danny Boyle.. I’m never going to shoot a film like this. It’s been the most incredible experience,” she added, before gushing over a 14-year-old Williams.
Williams said of being on a Danny Boyle set: “He’s just so creative and unique, experimental. But he’s a really nice person.” On getting advice from seasoned pros like Comer, Taylor-Johnson and Fiennes, the young actor responded: “It wasn’t anything specific. I could just watch them. I could adopt and mimic them and just watching them get ready before I see the different techniques they use, the energy.”
The Columbia Pictures movie is a follow-up to the Cillian Murphy-starring 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007).
Cillian Murphy as Jim in 28 Days Later (2002).
Courtesy Everett Collection
The next installment, Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is set for a 2026 release and will see Murphy reprise his role as Jim, a survivor of the original outbreak. The Irishman serves as an executive producer on both features.
Boyle said the third film in the trilogy will depend on how well, financially, 28 Years Later does. “The third one really depends on how we do with this film,” he said. “Obviously it’s very, very British film. Everybody is British and all the locations are British and it’s an entirely British affirm. It’s British filmmaking at its most pure. So how it does internationally will influence whether we get the money for the third one.”
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman beamed with pride, confirming what Boyle had just said. “The audience will tell us. I won’t even have to make that decision,” he said of the third film. “I’m very, very optimistic. I’m knocking on wood. We’ve already made the next one. And that’s quite unusual. We had a high level of confidence with the folks making the movie.”
This is Rothman and Boyle’s ninth film together. On how the Englishman, famed for 1996 hit Trainspotting, has changed as a director over the decades, Rothman interjected: “That’s a genius question. He hasn’t changed one iota. I’ve gotten old — he is still young and enthusiastic. He’s still breaking the form. He’s as dynamic as he was all those years ago.”
At the premiere, THR was also briefly able to catch up with Ralph Fiennes on being cast as President Snow, a role previously played by the late Donald Sutherland, in the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
“I’m really thrilled,” Fiennes said about being cast in the film, set to be adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novel of the same name. “Look, I’m a Donald Sutherland fan. I’m not going to try and be Donald Sutherland, because no one can be him. But I think the character he created is very complex… The complexity of that psychology, I hope I can echo in some way.”
28 Years Later is in theaters June 19.