28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hasn’t made its budget back yet, but the sequel has still danced its way to a major box office milestone.
The latest installment in the 28 Days Later franchise is a direct follow-up to 28 Years Later. The sequel primarily focuses on Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), the sadistic Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), the teenager Spike (Alphie Williams), and the Rage Virus-infected Alpha Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). Kelson makes a game-changing discovery about the Rage Virus, and The Bone Temple‘s ending features the return of 28 Days Later‘s Jim (Cillian Murphy), which sets up the trilogy’s third and final film.
Now, per The Numbers, after two weeks in theaters, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has hit the $50 million worldwide box office milestone through grossing $53.6 million worldwide. This total comes from $23.6 million earned domestically and $30 million internationally. Despite surpassing an important financial milestone, the movie has still not made back its reported budget of $63 million.
Beyond the matter of breaking even or becoming profitable, The Bone Temple not making its budget back raises questions about whether the third 28 Years Later movie will happen. 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple were filmed back-to-back, with Danny Boyle directing the first film, Nia DaCosta directing the second, and Alex Garland writing both. This is why there was such a quick release turnaround between the two stories, with Boyle’s released in June 2025 and DaCosta’s in January 2026.
The trilogy’s creative team have been open about the fact that the first two movies need to perform well at the box office in order for the third one to become a reality. 28 Years Later made it seem likely that this would happen, as it grossed around $150 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. Following this and overwhelmingly positive early reactions to The Bone Temple, the third 28 Years Later was greenlit by Sony before the sequel’s theatrical premiere, with Garland and Murphy aboard the project. The sequel’s box office numbers could change what happens moving forward, though, despite the critical acclaim.
If the third movie does not happen, it would leave several major The Bone Temple questions unresolved. Murphy’s character, Jim, only appears at the very end of the film, which leaves many mysteries about him and what has happened in the decades since he was last seen. The impact of Kelson’s discovery about the Rage Virus and what is happening with Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) after his absence in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple also need to be answered.
- Release Date
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January 16, 2026
- Runtime
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109 Minutes
- Director
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Nia DaCosta
- Producers
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Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, Peter Rice
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Jack O’Connell
Jimmy Crystal
