The second installment in a planned sequel trilogy, director Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple just hit theaters over the long holiday weekend, but how did the infection film fare at the box office? Here in the United States, The Bone Temple scared up $13 million in the traditional weekend frame and a […]
The second installment in a planned sequel trilogy, director Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple just hit theaters over the long holiday weekend, but how did the infection film fare at the box office? Here in the United States, The Bone Temple scared up $13 million in the traditional weekend frame and a total of $15 million domestically through Monday.
Worldwide, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple pulled in $31.2 million across its debut weekend.
The bummer here is that the sequel saga is already becoming a case of diminishing returns, with director Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later debuting to $30 million in the U.S. just last year. That trilogy-starting film ended up making $70.4 million domestically and $151.3 million worldwide, numbers that it’s hard to imagine The Bone Temple ever reaching at the box office.
The Bone Temple was made on a production budget of a reported $63 million, around the same cost of the previous film. When you factor in marketing expenses and the fact that theaters get a huge cut of the profits, Bone Temple is going to need to make somewhere in the ballpark of $150 million before it starts turning a profit. Again, this seems unlikely at this time.
While 28 Years Later and Bone Temple were shot back-to-back, meaning the sequel was coming our way no matter how the first film performed, the situation here is different. We had learned back in December that Sony was already moving forward with the third installment, but we can’t help but wonder if this decision will be impacted by Bone Temple‘s box office.
Deadline reported in December, “When Sony won rights to the 28 Years Later trilogy, it had the option for the third movie but waited to greenlight it. Rather, it shot the first two movies back-to-back with Boyle returning to direct the first, and DaCosta helming the second. Boyle has said in interviews he’d like to helm the third 28 Years Later, and it’s hopeful he’ll return.”
The good news here is that the reception to The Bone Temple from fans and critics alike is incredibly strong, with the film Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 93%. Meagan Navarro wrote in her , ” Director Nia DaCosta takes the reins with fearless gusto, making this entry wholly her own while pushing the overarching story and its richly layered themes into darker, grislier, funnier, and more poignant territory.”
