28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later
UK promotional film poster
Directed by	Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Produced by	Andrew Macdonald Allon Reich Enrique Lopez-Lavigne Co-Producer: Bernard Bellew Executive Producer: Danny Boyle Alex Garland
Written by	Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Enrique Lopez-Lavigne Rowan Joffe Jesús Olmo
Starring	Rose Byrne Jeremy Renner Imogen Poots Mackintosh Muggleton Harold Perrineau Robert Carlyle
Music by	John Murphy
Cinematography	Enrique Chediak
Editing by	Chris Gill
Studio	DNA Films UK Film Council Figment Films Sociedad General de Cine (SOGECINE) S.A. Koan Films
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	11 May 2007 (UK, US)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$15,000,000
Gross revenue	$64,227,835 (worldwide)
Preceded by	28 Days Later

28 Weeks Later is a British post-apocalyptic horror science fiction film, and sequel to the 2002 film 28 Days Later. The film was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States on 11 May 2007. It was mostly filmed in London, England with some scenes also being filmed in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.^[1]

Plot

During the outbreak of the "Rage" virus, Don (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) live in a barricaded cottage they share with four others, somewhere in rural Great Britain. They let a terrified boy inside, and moments later, a pack of the infected attack and enter the house. Alice refuses to leave without the boy; Don abandons Alice and escapes on a boat as the sole survivor.

Over the course of 28 weeks following the original outbreak, the infected have all starved to death and Britain has been declared relatively safe. An American-led NATO force, under the command of Brigadier General Stone (Idris Elba), begins repopulating the country. Amongst the new population are Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), Don and Alice's children, who were in Spain during the initial outbreak. During their subsequent medical inspection, Major Scarlet Ross (Rose Byrne), chief medical officer of District One, notes Andy's differently coloured eyes, a trait inherited from his mother. They are subsequently admitted to District One, a heavily guarded safe zone of London on the Isle of Dogs guarded by the US Army. Sergeant Doyle (Jeremy Renner) and his friend, Flynn (Harold Perrineau), a helicopter pilot, are amongst the military presence charged with guarding District One. The children are reunited with their father who is now head caretaker of the district.

The next day the two children, wanting to find a photograph of their mother, slip out of the safe zone to return to their old home, where Andy discovers Alice, disheveled but alive. Andy and Tammy are recaptured by the US Army while Alice is decontaminated. A blood test reveals that she is infected with the Rage virus but displaying few symptoms, labelling her an asymptomatic carrier. Using his all-access caretaker pass card to bypass security, Don makes an unauthorized visit to Alice in her isolation cell. When they kiss, the Rage virus in her saliva immediately infects Don, who, after feeling guilty for abandoning Alice back at the cottage, savagely gouges her eyes with his nails until she is dead and the room accidentally set on fire. He goes on to attack and infect several soldiers in the building.

District One is put into Code Red Lockdown, and civilians are herded into safe rooms. Don breaks into a room with a huge crowd of several hundred and begins killing and infecting people, quickly causing a domino effect of attackers. Scarlet manages to rescue Tammy from containment but Andy gets separated from his sister. Soldiers surrounding the building are initially ordered to shoot only the infected, but as the wave of infection grows, they are ordered to mow down the entire group. Doyle, unable to bring himself to comply with the order, abandons his post and escapes with Scarlet, the children, and others through the Greenwich foot tunnel. Stone then orders that District One be firebombed, but large numbers of the infected, including Don, escape the bombardment. Scarlet informs Doyle that the children may hold the key to a cure, and must be protected at all costs. Flynn arrives by helicopter to pick up Doyle, but refuses to take anyone else as they would be shot down if carrying possible infected persons.

Flynn contacts Doyle by radio and tells him to head to Wembley Stadium, but to leave the civilians. Doyle ignores his instructions and begins escorting the civilians to Wembley, breaking into an abandoned car to escape nerve gas released to kill the infected. However, after the infected are dead a group of soldiers, one of them carrying a flamethrower, are patrolling and nearing the car. The car will not start, so Doyle push starts the car before being incinerated by the flamethrower. Scarlet drives the car into the London Underground where she and the children continue on foot. In the darkness, Scarlet is ambushed and killed by Don. Don then attacks and bites Andy, but Tammy shoots Don before he can kill him. Andy remains symptom-free, but with darker, bloodier eyes like his mother. The children continue to Wembley Stadium and are picked up by a reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel to France, as previously instructed by Doyle.

Twenty-eight days pass. Calls for help and screams can be heard over the radio of Flynn's now abandoned helicopter. A swarm of infected are shown sprinting through a subway exit. As they run into the open, the Eiffel Tower comes into view, revealing that the Rage virus has spread to France, then likely all of Europe and possible the entire world.

Cast

• Rose Byrne as Major Scarlet Ross
• Jeremy Renner as Doyle
• Imogen Poots as Tammy Harris
• Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy Harris
• Robert Carlyle as Don Harris
• Catherine McCormack as Alice Harris
• Raymond Waring as Sam
• Emily Beecham as Karen
• Harold Perrineau as Flynn
• Shahid Ahmed as Jacob
• Garfield Morgan as Geoff
• Amanda Walker as Sally
• Idris Elba as Brigadier General Stone

Production

Pre-production

We were quite taken aback by the phenomenal success of the first film, particularly in America. We saw an opportunity to make a second film that already had a built in audience. We thought it would be a great idea to try and satisfy that audience again.

—Danny Boyle on 28 Weeks Later., ^[2]

In 2003, plans for the film were conceived after the international success of 28 Days Later. Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland stated that they felt the time was right to make a sequel.^[2]

In March 2005, Boyle said in an interview that he would not direct the sequel due to commitments to Sunshine, but he would serve as executive producer. He also revealed that the film would revolve around a great deal of the aftermath from the first movie.^[3] It was also revealed that the film would include the "US Army declaring the war against infection had been won, and that the reconstruction of the country could begin."^[4] Boyle hired Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project after seeing Fresnadillo's 2001 film Intacto.^[5] Fresnadillo stated that he was "thrilled working on his first English language film alongside such an exciting international cast and talented production team."^[6]

Both Fresnadillo and Lopez-Lavigne were involved in writing the script, which revolved around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film, which the producers "liked a lot".^[7]

Casting details

Boyle said in March 2005 that the sequel would feature a new cast, since previous cast members Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris were occupied with their own projects.^[3] On 23 August 2006, Jeremy Renner was announced to portray Doyle, one of the principal characters for 28 Weeks Later.^[8] On 31 August 2006, Harold Perrineau was announced to portray a US Special Forces pilot in the film.^[9]

Filming

On 1 September 2006, principal photography for 28 Weeks Later began in London^[10] with much of the filming taking place at Canary Wharf.^[11]

Promotion

US theatrical release poster

Biohazard warning

On 13 April 2007, 28 days before the release of the film in UK cinemas, a huge biohazard warning sign was projected against the White Cliffs of Dover.^[12] The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, as well as stating that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!".

Graphic novel

In July 2006, Fox Atomic Comics and publisher HarperCollins announced that they were publishing a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath in early 2007 to bridge the gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.^[13] Motion comics of two segments of the graphic novel were added to the DVD & Blu-Ray release of 28 Weeks Later.^[14]

Viral advertising

Removable graffiti was sprayed in locations around London and Birmingham featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and quickly snapped up by a cybersquatter. The advertising agency who made the mistake agreed to purchase the rights to the domain for an undisclosed sum.^[15]

Prop giveaway

In April 2007, Bloody Disgusting promoted the film by giving readers a chance to win a prop from the film. The props were included in a "District 1 Welcome Pack", which featured an actual ID card and an Evening Standard newspaper with an evacuation headline. The giveaway was only open for North American residents and entries closed on 9 May 2007.^[16]

Flash game

In May 2007, 20th Century Fox posted a free 28 Weeks Later themed flash game on their international website, foxinternational.com.^[17] In the game, the player can play one of the infected in three parts of the city.

Reception

28 Weeks Later garnered generally positive reviews.^[18] The film has generated a rating of 70% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 182 reviews (128 fresh, 54 rotten).^[19] View London called the film an "exciting, action-packed and superbly directed thriller that more than lives up to the original film".^[20] The New York Times's A. O. Scott wrote that "28 Weeks Later is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques."^[21]

The film opened in 2,000 cinemas across the United States.^[22] It made $9.8 million in its opening weekend, coming in second place at the box office, behind Spider-Man 3. The film has grossed $28.6 million in the US and $35.6 million in other countries, bringing the worldwide total to $64.2 million.^[23]

1.3 million DVD units have been sold, gathering a revenue of $24.3 million, as of July 2010.^[24] The film has been released as its own DVD and as a double feature with 28 Days Later.

Soundtrack

"In The House - In A Heartbeat" and "Kiss of Death", written and performed by John Murphy, are featured in the film.^[25] "In The House - In A Heartbeat" is of particular note as it was first used in 28 Days Later,^[26] and released as a single separate from the '28' franchise.

The trailer for this film featured the song "Want" by Witchman. "Shrinking Universe" by Muse (from the Hullabaloo Soundtrack album) was used in the second part of the trailer.

Possible sequel

In June 2007, it was announced that if DVD sales of the film did well Fox Atomic would consider producing a third film.^[27] In July 2007, while promoting Sunshine, Boyle revealed that he has a story forming for the next film. "There is an idea for the next one, something which would move [the story] on. I've got to think about it, whether it's right or not."^[28]

In October 2008, Boyle discussed with KarmaLoopTV the possibility of 28 Months Later.^[29]

References

External links

• Official website
• 28 Weeks Later at the Internet Movie Database
• 28 Weeks Later at Allmovie
• 28 Weeks Later at Rotten Tomatoes
• 28 Weeks Later at Box Office Mojo
• 28 Weeks Later at Metacritic
• flash game promotion

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