EXCLUSIVE The world of 28 Years Later: Star Aaron Taylor-Johnson reveals 'disconnected' community battling to survive in long-awaited sequel after humanity was pulled apart by Rage virus outbreak

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

The much-anticipated release of 28 Years Later is just weeks away, with fans left waiting two decades to discover the next instalment in Danny Boyle 's film series.
And with the nation devastated by the Rage virus nearly three decades ago, this new film - released June 19 - will show insight into the vastly different ways humanity has adapted to survive.
For one such community, this means complete isolation from the outside world, and in a new clip ahead of the film's premiere, star Aaron Taylor-Johnson shares insight into this new addition to the 28 Days Later universe for the first time.
In this new land, known as The Holy Island, humans are entirely self-sufficient, and only leave the community to hunt on the mainland, when the tide is low.
Aaron plays Jamie a scavenger who is tasked with training his Spike to survive in the wilderness, before they embark on a deadly mission to the mainland.
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In an exclusive featurette, Aaron offers a glimpse at this new Holy Island, explaining: 'My character is part of this community that survived 20-odd years because they live on the Holy Island, disconnected from the mainland.
'They don't have doctors or medicine, can only eat what they can grow, they can go hunt, but they have to go hunt on the mainland.'
'And we have rules, if you leave the island and you don't return, there's no one going out to look for you, they're going to assume you've been infected and you're dead.'
Aaron then explains that for his character's son, it's a 'rite of passage' to learn his father's hunting skills, in the hope that they can survive when they leave the island.
The film is set on the real-life island of Lindisfarne, which is only accessible through a causeway during low tide.
Jodie Comer also stars in the film as Jamie's wife Isla, while Ralph Fiennes plays Dr. Kelson, a survivor of the outbreak.
The original film 28 Days Later starred Cillian as a bicycle courier who wakes up from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.
But despite frenzied speculation that he would be reprising his role in this sequel, when the trailer came out in December, with one character appearing to resemble a zombified form of Cillian's character Jim from the first film.
In a new clip ahead of the film's premiere, Aaron shares insight into this new addition to the 28 Days Later universe for the first time
However, this theory was quickly shut down when a London art dealer and model revealed he was the one playing the zombie character.
Danny has since teased that viewers may get to see Cillian, 48, return after all, in one of the later films in the trilogy.
Speaking during Sony's presentation at 2025 CinemaCon, the filmmaker hinted: 'Like all good things in life, you may have to wait a little while for [Cillian] to make his appearance'.
28 Years Later was filmed back-to-back with the second film, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, by director Nia DaCosta, which is being released in January 2026.
Producer Andrew Macdonald previously confirmed that Cillian would not be appearing in 28 Years Later, but also suggested he could return for a future film.
He told Empire: '[On] this, we wanted him to be involved and he wanted to be involved. He is not in the first film, but I'm hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line.'
He added: 'He's involved at the moment as an executive producer, and I would hope we can work with him in some way in the future in the trilogy.'
With a budget of $75million, 28 Years Later is the biggest film to be created with an iPhone and follows in the footsteps of a new Apple TV show.
28 Years Later hits UK cinemas on June 19, 2025.