28 Years Later Sequel Eyeballing Candyman And The Marvels Director, Nia DaCosta
When "28 Days Later" was released in 2002, it heralded the revival of the post-apocalyptic zombie movie after years of the subgenre lying dormant. While the success of the film — directed by Danny Boyle and penned by Alex Garland — kicked off a wave of zombie (and, like itself, zombie-adjacent) media that led to not only the return of the subgenre's progenitor, George A. Romero, but also shows like "The Walking Dead" and films like "Shaun of the Dead," "Zombieland" and so on. It didn't necessarily kick off a franchise for itself, however. Despite 2007's "28 Weeks Later" — directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo — being generally well-received, a follow-up failed to happen, despite years of rumors that Boyle was interested in returning to the world of the rage virus.
That's all changed now; not only was it previously announced that Boyle, Garland, and producer Andrew Macdonald would be returning for "28 Years Later," it seems that the upcoming sequel is only part one of a proposed trilogy of new films in the "28 Later" saga (if anyone has a better label for the franchise, do tell). According to Deadline, Sony Pictures are attempting to line up a director for the second part of this trilogy after Boyle completes the first film, and as of now, that director seems likely to be Nia DaCosta, a choice that feels highly promising in a number of ways.
DaCosta could herald an intriguing, bold new direction for the series
Despite there being hardly any details about this new trilogy and its second part yet, one thing that's not in doubt is that if indeed DaCosta signs onto the film, it will continue the franchise's tradition of having bold cinematic voices telling the tale of the highly virulent outbreak that causes hyper-violent rage zombies to rapidly take over the world. Boyle, ever the genre chameleon, famously used DV cameras to help shoot the original "28 Days Later," giving the film a gritty, immediate look somewhere between a documentary and a personal device (essentially presaging the smartphone era). "28 Weeks Later" played things a bit more classically, yet still retained a pulse-pounding tempo and aesthetic that allowed the film to have just as much verisimilitude as its predecessor.
So far, DaCosta has proven via her directing career to be aesthetically malleable yet consistently visceral; her debut, "Little Woods," is tense and bleak, while her follow-up, 2021's "Candyman," proved that she could work within a franchise while bringing her own unique voice to the proceedings (leading to her joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the unfairly maligned "The Marvels"). Apparently, the reason Sony wants to hire a director for a "28 Years Later" follow up right now is that the sequel is planned to be shot immediately after "Years" wraps, necessitating a new director and Boyle to be, as Deadline puts it, "on the same page on where they see the story." Given her versatility as a filmmaker, DaCosta would be a perfect choice.
Although the sequel to "28 Years Later" has yet to be titled, even a semblance of a title may be considered a spoiler, given the way the series is shaping up. Will a sequel to "Years" merely be an extension of that film's characters and narrative? Or will it make another jump in time, and if so, will it be a shorter jump (perhaps "Months") or longer ("Decades")? The possibilities are tantalizing, and should DaCosta end up signing on the dotted line, only the film's zombies will have something to be angry about.