28 Years Later Was Perfectly Set Up By 2 Big Script Changes To The Last 2 Movies

While 28 Years Later might sound like an unlikely sequel, the belated follow-up was secretly set up by two plot details in the preceding movies. The 28 Days Later franchise has a pretty unusual trajectory. The series began in 2002 with the sleeper hit 28 Days Later, which was followed in 2007 by 28 Weeks Later. This solid sequel was a hit but failed to recapture the outsized critical acclaim and box office impact of its predecessor. As a result, the upcoming sequel 28 Years Later wasn’t announced until early 2024. Original star Cillian Murphy will executive produce.

It is not yet clear whether Murphy’s 28 Days Later hero Jim will return in 28 Years Later, as the character didn’t appear in 28 Weeks Later. There are many stories 28 Years Later could follow, some of which revolve around existing characters and some of which would rely entirely on new heroes. However, the movie’s ability to directly follow the story of its predecessors was set in stone by last-minute changes to both movies. If it weren’t for both 28 Days Later and its sequel altering their storylines, the sequel couldn’t bring back Jim and 28 Weeks Later’s kids.

28 Days Later’s Original Ending Killed Off Cillian Murphy’s Jim

Danny Boyle’s zombie thriller originally ended with the hero’s death

Jim died at the end of 28 Days Later’s original cut, meaning none of the movie’s subsequent sequels could have brought back Cillian Murphy’s charismatic antihero. In the finished movie, Jim, Selena, and Hannah end up surviving the apocalypse by hiding out in a remote cottage and flagging the attention of a passing jet. In contrast, the darker director’s cut of 28 Days Later ends with Jim expiring in a hospital bed. This ending is preferred by some viewers since Jim ending up back in a lonely hospital bed echoes his fate at the beginning of the movie.

However, this bleaker ending would have meant that Murphy’s character couldn’t return in 28 Years Later. Although 28 Weeks Later did ignore Hannah, Jim, and Selena, this doesn’t mean that the lead characters of the original movie are dead. Murphy’s star power has increased considerably in the years since 28 Days Later made him famous, with the actor recently earning an Oscar for his portrayal of Oppenheimer’s title character. As such, Cillian Murphy’s 28 Years Later return would be an exciting prospect, and this twist can only now happen because test screenings saw viewers reject Jim’s original fate.

28 Weeks Later’s Final Scene Was A Last-Minute Addition

The sequel’s revelation of Paris’s Infected was a late addition

While 28 Weeks Later was also altered, the changes made to the sequel’s plot were not intended to make its story more optimistic. 28 Weeks Later is arguably scarier than 28 Days Later since the movie proves just how much worse the Rage outbreak became in the months that followed. Although the sequel’s heroes successfully evade the Infected for most of its runtime, attempts to contain the virus prove fruitless. In a pitiless final twist, the ending of 28 Weeks Later reveals that the Infected made it to Paris, meaning they will soon overtake most of continental Europe.

According to the DVD commentary, 28 Weeks Later’s final reveal of the Infected in Paris wasn’t part of the original plan. The movie originally ended with a shot of the abandoned helicopter, leaving the extent of the rage virus’s spread ambiguous. However, 28 Weeks Later’s far darker ending instead proved that an entire horde of the Infected made it into Paris city center, a densely populated area that would allow them to spread quickly. Since France borders numerous other nations and government attempts to contain the virus proved disastrous in Britain, mainland Europe’s fate was effectively sealed by this bleak twist ending.

How 28 Days & 28 Weeks’ Script Changes Set Up 28 Years Later

28 Days Later set up Jim’s return while 28 Weeks Later established vital lore

It is not yet clear what story 28 Years Later will follow, but the sequel will almost certainly end up borrowing from the plots of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. The brutal twist ending of 28 Weeks Later proved that the entirety of Europe was in peril, a revelation that rewrote the optimistic coda of 28 Days Later. In that movie’s ending, Jim, Hannah, and Selena’s resourceful survival was contrasted with the fate of the Infected. Starved of victims, the zombie-like monsters simply died out in the open in the closing scene of 28 Days Later.

While 28 Weeks Later made it clear that the Rage virus had more staying power than this ending made it seem, 28 Years Later can now make this even worse. 28 Weeks Later revealing that the Infected escaped the UK proves that the virus can’t be contained by the military or governmental intervention. This means the heroes of 28 Years Later will need resilient characters like Murphy’s Jim more than ever. As such, the ending of 28 Weeks Later paved the way for Jim’s potential return in 28 Years Later after the altered ending of 28 Days Later ensured his survival.