Sony’s sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hit tracking last week in what looks to be a $20M-plus 4-day opening over the MLK holiday weekend.
That would make director Nia DaCosta’s British horror pic written by Alex Garland and produced by Danny Boyle one of 32 movies to open north of $20M at the Friday-through-Monday MLK box office.
MLK Day, which falls on January 19, often is seen as the cap-off of holiday moviegoing. While 94% of colleges and K-12 schools are off for the Monday holiday, per ComScore, 76%-84% colleges remain on break during the first week of January, while 37%-42% are off during the second weekend. Tickets for Bone Temple go on sale on January 2; advance presales always are a factor in working a projection, in addition to tracking.
Sony had early fan screenings of Bone Temple on December 9 in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Austin, London, Paris and Berlin. Following a rapturous one at AMC’s Century City, we told you first that Sony was moving forward on their option for the third 28 Years Later title (fifth overall in the franchise since 2002) with Cillian Murphy in talks to star and Garland already penning the screenplay. Boyle said during 28 Years Later‘s summer press tour that he’d like to helm the next movie.
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28 Years Later follows the human survivors in a future where the Infected remain years after the events of 2007’s 28 Weeks Later — but they don’t walk among us, rather they’re penned in the wilderness. The movie opened in June to $30M stateside and went onto to gross $70.4M domestic and $151.3M worldwide. The Boyle-directed pic, the second he directed in the series, pulled in close to 50% men over 25, 26% women over 25, 13% men under 25 and 13% women under 25. Bone Temple remains a first choice on tracking among men over 25, followed by women under 25, with similar scores to that of last year’s Nosferatu, which posted a 3-day opening over Christmas stretch of $21.6M, 5-day of $40.8M.
All in, the entire British horror series across three features has minted close to $300 million worldwide. Bone Temple, which takes place promptly after 28 Years Later, is set against a divided society in which we see young Spike teaming with Sir Jimmy Crystal’s gang (Jack O’Connell) as Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson looks to quell the infected outbreak. No RT critics and audience scores yet, though fans and press have exclaimed their praises to the sky on social, which you can read below.
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Sony recently kept big-screen comedies alive over the Christmas stretch with the Jack Black-Paul Rudd movie Anaconda posting a $23.6M 4-day opening.
Also opening on January 16 alongside Bone Temple is distributor Row K’s first theatrical release, Dead Man’s Wire from Gus Van Sant, as well as a wide break of Focus Features’ Chloe Zhao-helmed Oscaqr contender Hamnet, which currently is in limited release.
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28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE deepens the franchise’s lore with new questions and some long-awaited answers in the quietest yet undeniably most brutal installment of the series. Ralph Fiennes is truly phenomenal here, adding new poetic layers of complexity to his character,… pic.twitter.com/BJabyCbOqS
— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) December 10, 2025
Nia DaCosta knocks it out of the park with #28YearsLater #TheBoneTemple. The complex tapestry of tones provides the perfect canvas for a brutal and nightmarish study of unchecked power. O’Connell goes all in on maniacal Sir Jimmy while Fiennes eats up needle drops like a demon. pic.twitter.com/yEoXUcz4Rx
— Simon Thompson (@ShowbizSimon) December 10, 2025
