It’s time to go back to zombie-infested Britain with “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” the sequel to last summer’s post-apocalyptic hit.
“The Bone Temple” has made $2.1 million in previews at the box office. It’s projected to make $20 million to $22 million in the extra-long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. In comparison, the first “28 Years Later,” which reinvigorated the Sony horror series, made $5.8 million in previews over the traditional three-day weekend last June. That film debuted to $30 million and ended its run with a solid $70 million in North America and $150 million globally against a $60 million budget. The “Bone Temple” sequel has a slightly higher price tag of $63 million.
Director Nia DaCosta takes the reins from Danny Boyle, who helmed last year’s film and the original 2003 horror “28 Days Later.” She directs the series’ first direct sequel from writer and creator Alex Garland’s script, which takes place after the events of “28 Years Later” and follows Ralph Fiennes’ deranged doctor Ian Kelson and Jack O’Connell’s cult leader Jimmy Crystal. Alfie Williams, the young breakout of the first films also returns, and the sequel introduces Erin Kellyman, Emma Laird and original star Cillian Murphy back into the zombie outbreak.
The “28 Years Later” zombies will battle the Na’vi of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” for first place at the box office, as James Cameron’s epic threequel aims to take in $18 million to $19 million in its fifth weekend. Cameron’s previous entries, the original 2009 “Avatar” and its 2022 sequel “The Way of Water,” both held strong at No. 1 for seven weeks and soared to more than $2 billion each at the box office.
