28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was released by Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2026, as part of a double bill with its predecessor, with the film being individually released the following day on 14 January. It was released in the United States on 16 January 2026, and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
After being rescued by the Fingers, a gang of fighters led by the zealous Satanist ‘Sir Lord’ Jimmy Crystal,[a] Spike is forced to kill Jimmy Shite in a death match as an initiation. Sir Jimmy renames the boy ‘Jimmy’ to match the other Fingers, who include the more empathetic Jimmy Ink and the sadistic Jimmima.
Dr Ian Kelson continues to build up the Bone Temple, an ossuary for those killed in the Rage Virus epidemic, while the Alpha Infected, Samson, repeatedly visits him. Kelson deduces that Samson is becoming addicted to the morphine from his blowgun: Samson no longer attacks Kelson, and his humanity resurfaces as he dresses himself and the two develop a friendship. Running low on sedatives, Kelson prepares to euthanise Samson, but is overjoyed to observe him articulating the word ‘moon’, suggesting that the Rage Virus may be treatable.
The Fingers raid a farm inhabited by survivors, including Tom and his pregnant partner, Cathy. In a barn, Cathy hides as Sir Jimmy orders the Fingers to skin the captured survivors alive as a sacrifice to Old Nick, believing that Satan is his father and hearing his voice in his head. When Spike takes himself outside, sickened, Jimmy Ink, who is growing disillusioned with Sir Jimmy, takes pity on him. Sir Jimmy offers Tom a place in the gang if he can win a death match against a Finger, but Tom is quickly outmatched by his chosen opponent, Jimmima. Cathy breaks her cover to kill Jimmima. Tom then sets the barn on fire with a gas tank, killing Jimmy Jimmy and burning several others before himself being killed. Sir Jimmy sends Spike to capture Cathy, but Spike begs her to take him with her. Instead, Cathy incapacitates him and escapes.
With the gang's numbers and morale low, Sir Jimmy threatens to kill Spike for his failure to capture Cathy, but Ink suggests that they visit Kelson—whom she assumes is Satan, having observed his reddish skin and his interactions with the ‘demon’ Samson—and let him decide Spike's fate. Sir Jimmy leads the gang to the Bone Temple, where he meets Kelson alone. Upon discovering Kelson is not Satan, Sir Jimmy threatens to kill him if he does not pose as Satan and substantiate Sir Jimmy's leadership over the Fingers.
The next morning, Spike tries to leave Sir Jimmy's camp but is confronted by Jimmy Fox, who attempts to kill him to avenge Jimmy Shite's death. Ink intervenes and kills Fox. She brings Spike back, claiming to Sir Jimmy that Fox fled out of fear of Satan and she was forced to kill him in self-defence. Kelson fears that his research on Samson will be cut short and, in a premature attempt to grant him peace, administers him a cocktail of antipsychotics, hypothesising that the Rage Virus causes aggression indirectly via psychotic hallucinations. Experiencing some clarity, Samson visits the abandoned train where he was infected and hallucinates a childhood memory of a guard asking for his ticket. After he once again produces speech, a nearby pack of Infected attack him as if he were uninfected.
That night, Kelson complies with Sir Jimmy's demands, impersonating Satan in a pyrotechnic-laden performance of Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast while exposing the gang to hallucinogens. Upon recognising Spike, however, Kelson betrays Sir Jimmy by ordering the Fingers to crucify him. As Ink turns on him, Sir Jimmy fatally stabs Kelson in desperation, and Ink is forced to fight and kill Jimmy Snake and Jimmy Jones. Spike then stabs Sir Jimmy in the side. He comforts the dying Kelson as Ink crucifies Sir Jimmy on an inverted cross. Spike and Ink—who reveals her real name to be Kelly—leave for the wilderness. Samson arrives, taken to be Satan by Sir Jimmy; he greets the dying Kelson by name and thanks him, subsequently carrying his body away. Sir Jimmy is attacked by an Infected.
Some time later, Kelly and Spike are attempting to escape a group of Infected, unaware that they are observed by Jim,[b] and his teenage daughter Sam, who break off a history lesson about postwar remembrance to go to their aid.
Cillian Murphy makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a former bicycle courier and survivor of the original outbreak. Murphy reprises his role from 28 Days Later,[9] with his appearance in The Bone Temple's ending serving as his character's reintroduction which sets up the planned third film.[10] Sam, Jim's daughter, is portrayed by Maiya Eastmond.[11][12][13][14]
In April 2024, a sequel to 28 Years Later (2025) was reportedly in development, with Nia DaCosta in talks to direct the film, taking over from Danny Boyle, and Alex Garland returning to write the screenplay.[15] In June 2024, via a copyright filing, the title of the film was seemingly revealed to be 28 Years Later Part II: The Bone Temple.[16]
Feeling "protective of the legacy" of the franchise,[17] Nia DaCosta's pitch for the film was to avoid copying Danny Boyle's directorial style to instead create a personal and idiosyncratic work,[18] and requested Alex Garland have more infected added to the script.[19] Though Boyle and Garland oversaw the film, they allowed DaCosta creative freedom and did not interfere with her directing process.[20] In December 2024, Aaron Taylor-Johnson seemingly revealed his character will not return for the film, yet admitted "we did one and two back to back".[21] DaCosta collaborated with Boyle in creating the character Samson during the development of the previous film, as the character features prominently in The Bone Temple.[19]
The sequel continued collaborations with key production partners from the previous film: produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Decibel Films and DNA Films, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, and executive producers including Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, and Bernie Bellew.[22]TSG Entertainment covered half of the $63 million net budget for the film, of which a collective $15 million went to Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and producer Peter Rice, while Sony spent an additional $70 million on marketing.[23]
Ralph Fiennes stated the film explores themes juxtaposing human violence with innate humanity amid brutality and the infected.[24] DaCosta stated that while the theme of the previous film was about the nature of family, The Bone Temple would be about the nature of evil, which would lead the next film to be about the nature of redemption.[25]
Filming
Principal photography began on 19 August 2024, with Sean Bobbitt serving as cinematographer, replacing Anthony Dod Mantle from the previous film.[26] As filming began approximately three weeks after the completion of the preceding film, production required logistical coordination due to overlapping characters and locations, including casting decisions for characters appearing in both films.[17] In September 2024, Cillian Murphy was spotted filming in Ennerdale, Cumbria with a crew reportedly attached to the film.[27] The Bone Temple set was constructed in Redmire, North Yorkshire and the opening scene set in an abandoned leisure centre was filmed at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford which has been closed since 2019.[28][29]
According to Ralph Fiennes, while Danny Boyle's direction in the preceding film was instinctive and fast-paced with a clear vision of desired moments, Nia DaCosta's approach was more deliberate and meticulous, particularly in close-up shots, allowing actors additional time to develop subtle aspects of their performances.[30][20] In contrast to the previous film being filmed on iPhone 15 Pro cameras, The Bone Temple was filmed using the Arri Alexa 35 digital camera.[31][32]
Chi Lewis-Parry reprised his role as the Alpha infected Samson, portraying the character as having a more subdued demeanour due to frequent sedation by Fiennes's Dr Ian Kelson.[33] A scene in which Dr Kelson and Samson dance to Duran Duran's Rio was not part of the original script but instead was improvised during filming.[33] To portray Samson, Chi Lewis-Parry wore a full-body prosthetic body suit.[33] Each suit took seven artists six to eight hours to apply and could only be used once, so the process had to be repeated more than 25 times during filming.[33] For close-up or waist-up shots, simpler partial prosthetics were used.[33]
Post-production on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple commenced following the completion of principal photography in late 2024, with the film's January 16, 2026 release date allowing an extended period for editing and visual effects to be completed ahead of its theatrical debut.[34] Visual effects work was overseen by Adam Gascoyne as Visual Effects Supervisor, with Dean Koonjul and Rob Vassieamong the key VFX leads and coordinated through effects vendor Union VFX.[35]
Release
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was first released in the United Kingdom by Sony Pictures Releasing on 13 January 2026 as part of a double bill with 28 Years Later,[36] before being released individually the following day on 14 January, with the film being released in the United States on 16 January 2026.[37] The first trailer was released on 3 September 2025.[38] The second trailer was released on 3 December.[39]
Reception
Box office
The film was initially expected to make $20–22 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend.[40][41] However, it underperformed domestically, earning $13 million over the three-day weekend and an estimated $15 million over the four-day holiday period.[40] The film grossed an additional $25.3 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to approximately $47.8 million.[40] This represented a weaker US domestic opening compared to its predecessor 28 Years Later, which debuted to $30 million over a traditional three-day “weekend”.[40]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 301 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.The website's consensus reads: "A direct continuation of 28 Years Later that ups the gore while deepening the dread, The Bone Temple is finely adorned by Nia DaCosta's unnerving direction as well as Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell's inspired performances."[42]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[43] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of 'A−' on an A+ to F scale, up from its predecessor's 'B' grade. Audiences surveyed by PostTrak gave the film an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 72% saying that they would definitely recommend the film.[44]
Amy Nicholson of Los Angeles Times wrote, "Gruesomely both low and highbrow, it's the movie equivalent of Jell-O wrestling an anthropology professor at Burning Man, which may have been the inspiration of one of its standout characters, Ralph Fiennes' spry and mesmerizing Dr. Ian Kelson."[45]
Sequel
The film was announced as part of a planned trilogy,[26] with Garland serving as screenwriter for all three.[46] In January 2025, Boyle confirmed that he would direct the final film in the trilogy.[47] That September, Murphy said that the third film would only be produced if audiences "go and see the second one".[10] That December, it was reported that Sony was moving forward with a potential third instalment prior to the film's theatrical release, with Cillian Murphy in talks to reprise his role as Jim and Alex Garland writing the script.[48][49][50]
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