28 Years Later: The Bone Temple arrives in cinemas next week, only seven months after 28 Years Later. The sequel filmed back-to-back with the first movie, but there was one notable change with Nia DaCosta taking over from Danny Boyle as director.
Boyle stayed on as producer and Alex Garland, who wrote the first movie, stayed on as writer. It’s very much a continuation of the story set up in 28 Years Later as a result, but that doesn’t mean you can expect to see exactly the same movie again.
“I remember there was huge respect. We did Danny’s film and there was no discussion about how we would proceed into Nia’s film,” Ralph Fiennes, who reprises his role as Dr Ian Kelson, told Digital Spy.
“Neither Danny nor Alex attempted to [influence the sequel]. We knew what the arc was from reading it, so we just handed ourselves over to Nia.
“The key scenes that [Kelson and Samson] have and the key scenes that Jack O’Connell has with my character, they are simply shot, but with very incredibly striking camera angles. She allows the pressure to build between the actors, between the characters. It was very different. She really wanted scenes to play in quite a classic way, which I loved.”
Sony Pictures
Related: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hailed as “breathtaking”
As Fiennes alluded to, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple focuses on the fascinating relationship between Dr Kelson and Samson, the infected Alpha leader that we met in the first movie, while Dr Kelson also has to deal with the new threat from Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (O’Connell).
The relationship between Dr Kelson and Samson, in particular, evolves in unexpected ways during the sequel.
Having filmed the movies back-to-back, Chi Lewis-Parry, who plays Samson, was able to build that connection purely from the scripts, allowing DaCosta to bring “her own vision” to the movie.
Sony Pictures
Related: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple confirms earlier UK release date
“I sought guidance when there were things I didn’t quite understand or I didn’t have the best decision for, and I needed to seek a bit of guidance. But I think because we shot so close together, having been given both of the scripts at the same time and read through like one one big story, I think it was quite clear,” he told Digital Spy.
“Alex’s writing is masterly and he leaves no stone unturned. It was very easy to understand and dissect which led to our great on-screen partnership.”
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is released in UK cinemas on 14 January and in US cinemas on 16 January.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
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