Avatar: Fire and Ash has been the box office-dominating juggernaut it was always expected to be, but everything has to come to an end. Annoyingly for those who like a bit of serendipitous alignment, the third Avatar movie’s reign at number one has ended after 27 days with the previews of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
Since debuting at the top of the box office on December 19, James Cameron’s record-breaking third Avatar movie has held its number one position without much of a challenge from any subsequent release, but after just short of a month, the incredible reviews and hype surrounding Nia Da Costa’s continuation of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s dystopian horror franchise look set to make it one of the biggest horror movies of the decade.
On Thursday, The Bone Temple‘s previews pulled in $2.1 million domestically ahead of its full release over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. At the same time, Avatar: Fire and Ash collected $1.48 million, to take second place on the daily chart. It seems that there is nothing that will stop The Bone Temple holding prime place on the domestic chart over the weekend as the Avatar franchise’s latest installment begins lose its grip on cinemas and eyes turn to its upcoming VOD release.
’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Is a Superior Sequel
When it was originally announced that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland were returning to the zombie saga they started almost three decades ago with a new trilogy, some questioned whether the long delay between 28 Weeks Later in 2007 and 28 Years Later in 2025 would cause problems for the franchise.
However, when the movie was released in June 2025, bringing with it an impressive cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O’Connell, and Ralph Fiennes, it generated a worldwide gross of $151 million and was highly praised byt critics as a great continuation of the 28… Later story. Now, The Bone Temple is elevating the franchise again under the direction of The Marvels and Candyman helmer Nia Da Costa.
Currently, critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have been almost perfect and the film holds a 94% score on the site’s Tomatometer. First audience reviews have massively upgraded the film’s score from its predecessor, with The Bone Temple‘s 90% being a huge improvement on 28 Years Later‘s unnecessarily harsh 63%. As it stands, the new installment is scoring higher than even 2003’s 28 Days Later (87% critics, 85% audience). Critics have called it a “scary, savvy fright fest” that is elevated by “incredible performances from Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes.” Meanwhile, on the audience side of things, one called the film “amazing, no notes” and “insanely good.”
Although there was an incredibly swift turnaround of just seven months between 28 Years Later and its sequel, there could be a slightly longer wait for the final part, which will see Danny Boyle back behind the camera and having the hard task of bringing this trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.
Release Date
January 16, 2026
Runtime
109 Minutes
Director
Nia DaCosta
Producers
Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, Peter Rice
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Jack O’Connell
Jimmy Crystal
