28 Years Later Sequel Stumbles: The Real Reasons The Bone Temple Flopped in Theaters

So, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple just hit theaters, and honestly, it was supposed to be another slam dunk for the franchise. The last movie, with Danny Boyle back in the director’s chair, proved people were still weirdly into post-apocalyptic infected mayhem—even twenty years after the first one. But this time… something just didn’t land. Instead of feeding off all that momentum, The Bone Temple tripped out of the gate, barely scraping together $13 million domestically and $16.1 million from everywhere else for a $29.1 million opening weekend (thanks, The Numbers). Compare that to the previous movie’s massive $30 million US debut and a global $70 million launch, and, well, ouch.

So, what happened? Did people get tired of the franchise, did marketing drop the ball, or were there just too many other movies crowding it out? Let’s break down the mess.

Numbers, People, and What Went Sideways

• The competition was brutal. The Bone Temple didn’t just have to go up against whatever random horror B-movie is out this week—it was facing off with Avatar: Fire and Ash (which, yes, somehow is still trucking along at the box office), The Housemaid for horror fans, and Timothée Chalamet’s movie for the critic crowd (it’s called Marty Supreme—and you know he’s everywhere lately). Bottom line, there were a lot of eyeballs getting pulled in every direction. And if that wasn’t enough, Return to Silent Hill and Sam Raimi’s Send Help were hovering on the horizon, basically guaranteed to scoop up anyone left standing. Oh, and Super Bowl weekend is right there too—which, if you’ve ever stepped into a movie theater that weekend, you know it’s never good news for ticket sales.
• The director switch gave people whiplash. Say what you want about Danny Boyle, but his name on a 28 Whatever Later movie still means something. He’s the reason most people even take these films seriously. The one time someone else (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) took the wheel for 28 Weeks Later, it flopped so hard they basically act like it doesn’t exist. When Boyle came back for the last one, everything turned around. So, handing things off to Nia DaCosta was always going to be a risk—and to be honest, her recent track record didn’t inspire much confidence. The Marvels and her Candyman reboot? Both kind of fizzled, even with decent directors and big studios backing them.
• Sony totally botched Cillian Murphy’s return. Here’s where things get really head-scratching. Murphy—the only real link between the original and this movie, not to mention fresh off an Oscar win—should’ve been plastered all over every trailer and poster as the nostalgic hook. But for reasons only Sony marketing can explain, they kept his role totally under wraps. Sure, his screen time is short (clearly setting up the trilogy’s final act), but come on—if people knew he was back, a lot more butts would’ve been in seats. Hiding him doesn’t make sense, especially given how much hype he brings to any project right now.
• This whole trilogy was always a pretty risky bet. Horror movies usually get made on the cheap—they don’t need Marvel-level box office to be hits. But these 28 Years Later flicks are budgeted like blockbusters, each costing over $60 million. That means they need big numbers just to not lose money, and outside of hardcore fans and infected-movie enthusiasts, that audience is way more niche than studios care to admit.
• The movie’s tone took a wild left turn. One of the reasons people loved the original 28 Days Later (and even Boyle’s 2025 sequel) was the tense survival vibe—the focus on humanity versus the infected, isolation, hard choices, human danger, all that. The Bone Temple? Not so much. It pivots to Doctor Kelson’s search for a cure, Jimmy Crystal’s cult, and the aftermath of the last movie—while the actual infected are basically an afterthought. That shift was jarring, and a lot of fans noticed the spark was missing.
• Sony’s “strike while it’s hot” strategy kind of blew up in their faces. The plan was to film two movies back-to-back and hit theaters again just seven months later, before people lost interest. But that pace didn’t let anticipation build. There was no time for theory-crafting, debating, or just giving fans a breather. Instead, it felt like an assembly line, churn-and-burn strategy. Turns out, sometimes less really is more—even with rabid fans.

Quick Stats at a Glance

For the trivia hounds:

'28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' (2026), directed by Nia DaCosta
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (so far)
Release date: January 16, 2026
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes

So, What Now?

All things considered, The Bone Temple’s slow start doesn’t mean the franchise is dead—it’s just facing a much steeper climb. With digital and streaming still in play, Sony could claw back a little momentum, but right now, it’s a definite stumble.

If you’ve seen the movie, I actually want to know—do you think this missed the mark because of timing, the creative team switch, or just the weird marketing decisions? Drop your thoughts below.

'28 Years Later: The Bone Temple' is still in theaters, if you feel like braving another apocalypse (just, you know, with fewer infected than usual).