Nia DaCosta Added More Infected to Alex Garland’s ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Script

Nia DaCosta (Candyman) takes over as director for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, a sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later that will release in theaters on January 16, 2026.

The titular bone temple is a primary location in Danny Boyle’s trilogy-starter, and the title of DaCosta’s sequel suggests we’ll returning to that location. The final minutes of 28 Years Later also suggest that The Bone Temple will focus on Jack O’Connell’s “Sir Jimmy Crystal” and his merry band of evil-doers, with young hero Spike (Alfie Williams) also returning.

Cillian Murphy’s character from 28 Days Later is also expected to make an appearance in The Bone Temple, which we know very little about at this time. One other thing we do know is that Alex Garland wrote the script, and it was that script that brought DaCosta on board.

Nia DaCosta said at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this week (via THR), “Making the 28 Years Later sequel was one of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve had. One of the issues I had with Candyman and Marvels was the lack of a really solid script, which is always gonna just wreak havoc on the whole process. But Alex Garland hands you a script, and you’re like, ‘This is amazing.’ You don’t really have to change it, although I did. I basically asked for more infected. [Laughs.] That was, like, my big contribution.”

“I inherited an amazing cast, then I was given the leeway to cast the rest of the film,” DaCosta notes. “There were a couple locations I inherited. I was given leeway to develop all the other locations. Some of it overlapped, like the character Samson — Danny and I would collaborate a bit on the look, but at the end of the day, Danny shoots so different from the way I shoot.”