28 Years Later's Aaron Taylor-Johnson teases sequel The Bone Temple

Yahoo

6 hours ago

28 Years Later may have taken years to get to the big screen, but viewers won't have long to wait for the next instalment in the franchise: The Bone Temple.
That's right, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's iconic horror franchise will return and much sooner than viewers think, which is a good thing given the shocking events that close out 28 Years Later. The movie follows the journey of 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), whose life is turned upside down after he and his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) have terrifying encounters when they go to the mainland so that Spike can have his first kill.
The Rage virus that broke out nearly 30 years ago, and which Cillian Murphy's bicycle courier Jim first encountered in 28 Days later, has ravaged the landscape. Britain has been cut off from the rest of the world and the survivors have been left to fend for themselves, those that remain have been forever changed by the outbreak.
Taylor-Johnson, Williams and their co-star Jodie Comer shared some details with Yahoo UK of what people can expect from the next film. Here is everything that we know so far about The Bone Temple, but be warned there are some spoilers for 28 Years Later in this article.
When asked about the sequel by Yahoo UK and if there was anything they could tease, Taylor-Johnson shared: "Oh if only, we wish. But I think if you come and see this movie and you see the journey in which Spike goes, where it ends, you definitely wanna see more for sure.
"I suppose I could give a tee up of what Danny would say: This movie starts with Teletubbies and it ends with Teletubbies, but not in the way that you expect."
Comer, who portrays Spike's mother Isla, admitted that she's "just as excited to see" The Bone Temple as audiences will be, because of the unexpected ways it takes the franchise.
Reflecting on the surprising way 28 Years Later ends, she said: "It's like a total energy shift, right? You're like, 'oh my God, OK!' you can already feel that the second film is going to be very, very different, which is exciting."
Following the death of his mother Isla (Jodie Comer), Spike decides to venture onto the mainland but not before leaving the baby of an Infected with his island community. His mother helped the pregnant infected give birth, and while the baby girl is the child of an infected she isn't infected herself, so Spike urges his community to keep her safe and tells them that she has named her Isla.
Spike decides he wants to spend some time alone on the mainland, still angry at his father for cheating on Isla while she was dying from cancer. The film jumps to 28 days later (see what they did there) and Spike is taking things day by day, surviving off the land and killing infected as he goes.
One day he is jumped by a number of infected and whilst fighting them off he is met with a group that is being led by Jack O'Connell's Sir Jimmy Crystal. All of them are dressed the same, as knock-off Jimmy Saville impersonators with long blonde hair, a plethora of gold jewellery and colourful boiler suits — they're also all named Jimmy in some variation, and whether any of this is addressed in The Bone Temple is to be seen.
O'Connell's character asks Spike if he and his followers can step in, when Spike agrees the group unleash hell on the infected in a bonkers sequence that sees them execute them with the help of elaborate acrobatics and gruesome homemade weapons. Jimmy then introduces himself to Spike, and the film leaves the characters there ahead of The Bone Temple.
Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Garland, The Bone Temple was filmed back to back with 28 Yers Later and it is scheduled to be released on 16 January 2026.
Little is known about the plot other than it will follow on from the events of 28 years Later and Boyle is hopeful that a third film can be made to make it a trilogy.
As mentioned, Williams and Taylor-Johnson are expected to return for the next film, as is Ralph Fiennes who starred as Dr Kelson in 28 Years Later and O'Connell will reprise his role as Sir Jimmy.
Emma Laird will also return as Jimmima, as will Maura Bird as Jimmy Jones, and Ghazi Al Ruffai as Jimmy Snake, all of whom are members of Crystal's cult.
The most exciting casting news though is that Cillian Murphy will return to the franchise as Jim, the character he made iconic in 28 Days Later. It is unclear how Jim will fit into the narrative, but he was last seen living with fellow survivor Selena (Naomie Harris) and Hannah (Megan Burns) in Cumbria where they were hoping for rescue.
28 Years Later is out now in cinemas, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple premieres in UK cinemas on 16 January, 2026.