28 Years Later 3 might have to wait a few more years

Strong reviews and an Iron Maiden-loving Ralph Fiennes weren’t enough to overcome the previous films’ underperformance. 

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  October 9, 2026 | 1:05pm
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28 Years Later 3 might have to wait a few more years

Those looking to see what became of The Bone Temple’s Samson and his massive zombie hog might have to wait a few more years, Deadline reports. 28 Years Later 3 is on the “back burner at the moment,” according to Danny Boyle, who had been hoping to shoot the third part of his 28 Years Later trilogy later this year. During a Q&A at the London Film Festival, Boyle pointed to factors other than the underperforming box office of the two previous features, 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Namely, he put the onus on screenwriter Alex Garland’s adaptation of the fantasy video game Elden Ring, which Boyle reports is a Samson-sized project. 

It’s hardly surprising to those who watched The Bone Temple crater at the box office earlier this year. Despite its disturbing usage of the Teletubbies and wonderful Iron Maiden karaoke, not to mention a tease of Cillian Murphy’s return to the series, audiences ignored the film or simply saw its somewhat confusing title and said, “I think we saw 28 Years Later already.” Earlier this year, Boyle began tempering expectations for the trilogy capper, claiming the production “ran out of time” to shoot this year. He said the film is set in a part of Britain where “you can only film at certain times of the year,” and he missed the window. “Hopefully, fingers crossed, next year. But there’s the enthusiasm there, and Alex [Garland] has done a wonderful script for it.”

Nevertheless, he told Variety last week that the film currently on the back burner “will get made because people keep asking about it.” However, “when I’m not sure, but there’s a script,” which contains “a lot of Cillian Murphy.” We can only hope we’re not waiting another 28 years for it.

 
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