28 Years Later Part III Is on the Back Burner, Says Danny Boyle

The third 28 Years Later film is stalled, according to director Danny Boyle. Asked about its status at a Q&A at the London Film Festival, Boyle told Deadline it is on the back burner at the moment.

The update tempers expectations for a continuation that had appeared to be moving forward, and it comes from the filmmaker most closely tied to the series. For fans who have followed the revival of the franchise, it is a reminder that a sequel being teased on screen does not guarantee a production start.

Money and Scheduling Stand in the Way

Boyle said writer Alex Garland has written a fantastic script but that the film still needs financing, according to Variety. He also pointed to Garland's schedule, as Garland has been busy with his adaptation of Elden Ring for A24. Dark Horizons notes that Garland's Elden Ring film has finished shooting but is not due until March 2028, and that he will spend most of next year in post-production. Boyle said he hopes the third film will still be made.

The two obstacles are separate but linked. A finished script is a significant asset, yet a film of this kind cannot proceed until funding is secured, and funding decisions often depend on the commercial record of earlier entries and the availability of key creatives. Garland's commitments add a second constraint. Post-production on a large film is demanding work that continues for many months, and a writer who is also closely involved in that process has limited room to take on another production at the same time.

Boyle's statement that he hopes the film will still be made is cautious rather than discouraging. He did not say the project had been cancelled, and he did not suggest that the script or the creative team had changed. His wording describes a pause, not an ending.

A Change in Tone Since Earlier This Year

It is a change in tone from earlier this year. In May, Boyle said the team hoped to start filming in 2026 but had run out of time, because the film is set in an area of Britain that can only be filmed at certain times of the year. In September at the Zurich Film Festival, he said the film will get made and will have a lot of Cillian Murphy in it. The third film was teed up in the closing scenes of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Variety notes.

Reading the three statements together shows how the outlook has evolved. In May the obstacle was the calendar, with the production unable to fit into the narrow window available for filming in the chosen region. By September Boyle sounded confident that the film would happen and highlighted the involvement of Cillian Murphy, a name closely associated with the franchise since its original entry. The latest remarks add financing and Garland's availability to the list of concerns, which makes the position more uncertain than it appeared a month earlier. The commitment to making the film has not been withdrawn, but the practical path to doing so has become less clear.

The Problem of Seasons and Locations

The point about filming locations deserves attention. A story set in a particular part of Britain depends on the look of its landscape, and the weather and daylight of that area change considerably through the year. A production that misses its seasonal window cannot simply move to another month without changing the appearance of the film, and that can push a start date back by a year. For a series known for its stark rural settings, that constraint helps explain why the film did not begin shooting in 2026 as the team had hoped.

Where the Franchise Stands

The series began with 28 Days Later in 2002, directed by Boyle from a script by Garland, and continued with 28 Weeks Later in 2007 under a different director. The revival returned Boyle and Garland to the story with 28 Years Later, followed by The Bone Temple, which ended with a setup for another chapter. That final scene is the reason the current delay is notable: audiences were given a direct signal about what would come next, and the next film has no production schedule.

Boyle's next project is an Antarctica-set film written by John Hodge, which faces similar financing difficulties. AV Club notes that the first two films in the series, 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple, underperformed at the box office. Sony released both, and there is no confirmed production schedule or release date for the third.

Boyle won the Oscar for best director for Slumdog Millionaire and made his name with Trainspotting, so his comments carry the weight of a filmmaker with a long record. Garland, who began as a novelist before moving into screenwriting and directing, wrote the original 28 Days Later and has since directed films including Ex Machina, Annihilation and Civil War. Their shared history on the series is a reason the delay has drawn so much interest.

Box Office and the Business Case

The reported box office results may bear on the financing question. When earlier films in a series fall short of expectations, investors and distributors tend to approach the next installment more cautiously, even when the creative team is eager to proceed. The franchise has a loyal following and a respected pair of filmmakers, but a third film in a trilogy needs a budget that reflects its likely returns, and that calculation has become harder. Sony's role as distributor of both releases means any new deal would likely involve renewed discussions about cost and scale.

Boyle's other planned film, the Antarctica project from Hodge, who also wrote Trainspotting, faces a similar funding challenge. Together, the two projects show that even an Oscar-winning director with an established track record can face a lengthy search for funding.

What Comes Next

No production schedule or release date has been confirmed, and Garland will be occupied with Elden Ring for much of the coming year. Unless financing is secured and the seasonal filming window is met, the third film appears unlikely to move quickly. Fans will probably learn more as Boyle and Garland finish their current commitments and as discussions with the studio continue, but for now the project remains on hold.