28 Years Later Crushes Box Office—Biggest Opening in the Franchise

Released 18 years after 28 Weeks Later, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's return to the infected apocalypse brought in $30 million domestically on opening weekend. That's triple what either of the earlier films made. The original 28 Days Later opened with $10 million back in 2002, and 28 Weeks Later followed with just under $10 million in 2007. 28 Years Later made $14.1 million on its first day alone.

Add in international totals, and the film sits at $60 million worldwide after just one weekend — already enough to cover its budget. It's also now Danny Boyle's biggest opening ever. So why does it still feel like a bit of a whiff?

It Hit the Floor — Not the Ceiling

Heading into release, most tracking had the movie landing somewhere between $30 and $45 million. It came in right at the bottom of that range. Not a disaster, but not exactly a breakout either — especially considering it had strong presales, excellent reviews, and the kind of trailer that makes horror fans foam at the mouth.

Sony didn't do it any favors, either. The studio waited until 5 p.m. Eastern the day before release to lift the review embargo. Which is odd, since the reviews were great — and usually, you hold late embargoes to hide bad news or big spoilers. In this case, all it did was squash last-minute buzz.

There's also the weird contrast between pre-release interest and the final box office. 28 Years Later set a 2025 horror presale record, yet still opened well behind other recent horror hits like Final Destination: Bloodlines ($51 million) and Sinners ($48 million). Hardcore fans clearly showed up — but general audiences maybe didn't get the memo.

Will It Stick Around?

Critics are mostly loving it, but audience reactions are more split — the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is sitting at 65%, which means word-of-mouth might not carry it far. Still, the film's final scene has sparked a lot of conversation, and if that chatter keeps up, it could help drive more curious viewers into theaters.

If it performs like 28 Days Later did back in the day, it could make over $130 million domestic. If it holds closer to 28 Weeks Later's trajectory, it'll still hit around $85 million. Either way, with the international market kicking in, a $200 million global run isn't off the table.

The only problem? The road ahead's packed. M3GAN 2.0 drops this weekend, and July's bringing F1: The Movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, and I Know What You Did Last Summer. That's a lot of competition, and 28 Years Later isn't the kind of four-quadrant monster that bulldozes everything in its way.