While28 Years Later’s trailer looks great, the long-awaited sequel to28 Days Laterfaces a challenge that the franchise’s earlier movies didn’t have to contend with due to its genre shift. There are many horror sub-genres and these often fall in and out of favor with the moviegoing public with each passing year. Sometimes slashers are in vogue, while other eras see ghost stories and possession movies dominating the horror box office.28 Days Later’s upcoming sequel28 Years Lateris betting big on zombie movies making a comeback, but this hope comes with one major addendum.
28 Years Later Casting Risks Wasting A 17-Year-Old Franchise Cliffhanger
Details about the cast of the horror sequel 28 Years Later point to the franchise potentially wasting an important cliffhanger from the series.
28 Days Latertold the story of Jim, a coma patient who woke up to find himself alone in a mostly empty London. Cillian Murphy’s protagonist soon learned London had been overrun by victims of the Rage virus who infected or killed everyone they encountered.The sequel28 Weeks Laterendedby revealing that the virus had escaped Britain and made its way to France, setting up a more apocalyptic follow-up. Now,the story of28 Years Laterlooks set to pay off this promise, judging by the events depicted in its first trailer. This could be a problem.
28 Years Later Is A Post-Apocalyptic Horror, Not A Disaster Horror
The Sequel’s Setting Changes Its Sub-Genre
Unlike28 Days Laterand28 Weeks Later,28 Years Lateris a post-apocalyptic horror movie. The trailer for28 Years Later, with its isolated tribal communities, religious zealots, and rudimentary rebuilt civilization, is more reminiscent ofThe Walking DeadorA Quiet Place Part IIthan28 Days Later. The sequel is about life long after the end when society has reshaped itself, not about the immediate and terrifying collapse of society. This makesthe story of28 Years Latermore challenging, as the end of the world has been well-trod territory for horror viewers in the last few years.
Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later was a fresh, vital surprise.
28 Days Laterbecame a surprise success in an era when zombie movies had been on the decline for some time. After theEvil Dead,Night of the Living Dead, andReturn of the Living Deadfranchises all succeeded throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, the ‘90s featured a paucity of undead shamblers haunting the multiplex. Slashers and haunted house movies were the order of the day, so director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland’s28 Days Laterwas a fresh, vital surprise whose success arguably contributed to everything from 2004’sDawn of the Deadremake to 2009’sZombieland, to TV’sThe Walking Dead.
28 Years Later Joins An Increasingly Busy Sub-Genre
Post-apocalyptic Horror Has Enjoyed A Boom In Recent Years
In contrast,28 Years Later’s storywill need to stand out in a crowded marketplace full of dystopian, post-apocalyptic movies and shows. For every post-apocalyptic horror hit likeA Quiet Place Part IIorArcadian, there are disappointments likeBird Box Barcelona,Leave the World Behind,Y2K,Azrael,Never Let Go, and even arguablyFuriosa. This isn’t even getting into the franchise’s small-screen competition, likeSilo,Fallout,Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, andWalking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Compared to the quiet zombie subgenre28 Days Laterfaced upon its release,28 Years Latermust impress in a field packed with competitors.
