Like those slow-walking undead fiends themselves, the zombie genre refuses to die. Just when we think we've reached peak zombie, someone lands another zombie pitch and makes another damn zombie movie. The genre's resurrection can be credited to 28 Days Later, the 2002 film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It was followed by a sequel, 28 Weeks Later, in 2007. Now, it'll likely have another follow-up.
Speaking with The Playlist, Alex Garland explained that he's working on the story for a second 28 sequel called 28 Months Later. Garland, who is currently doing press for his smash hit directorial debut Ex Machina, said the idea for the film came up organically.
The rights to '28 Days' were frozen, effectively, because they were shared between Danny [Boyle], [producer] Andrew [McDonald], myself, and Fox," he told The Playlist. "After the second one, none of us really wanted to do another. Fox may or may not have, I don't know."
Garland says he came up with an idea for a new 28 movie when he was talking with Boyle about the possibility of making a Trainspotting sequel. "In that conversation, an idea for '28 Months' arrived," he said. "I had a sort of weird idea that popped into my head. Partly because of a trip I'd taken. I had this thought, and I suggested it to Andrew and Danny, but I also said I don't want to work on it. I don't really want to play a role, and Andrew said, 'Leave it to me.' So he's gone off and is working on it."
Though he wouldn't share any details, Garland called the idea "pretty simple," adding, "Don't you think those are, in a way, better? Because there is no momentum now, and you've had an organic, real spark about where I can take this. And it just popped into your head, kind of thing. Rather than, 'Okay, I'm going to make a sequel.'"
Garland will most likely just receive a story credit on 28 Months Later. Meanwhile, he's set to follow Ex Machina with another writer-director role on the upcoming film Annihilation, which is rumoured to star Natalie Portman.
Speaking with The Playlist, Alex Garland explained that he's working on the story for a second 28 sequel called 28 Months Later. Garland, who is currently doing press for his smash hit directorial debut Ex Machina, said the idea for the film came up organically.
The rights to '28 Days' were frozen, effectively, because they were shared between Danny [Boyle], [producer] Andrew [McDonald], myself, and Fox," he told The Playlist. "After the second one, none of us really wanted to do another. Fox may or may not have, I don't know."
Garland says he came up with an idea for a new 28 movie when he was talking with Boyle about the possibility of making a Trainspotting sequel. "In that conversation, an idea for '28 Months' arrived," he said. "I had a sort of weird idea that popped into my head. Partly because of a trip I'd taken. I had this thought, and I suggested it to Andrew and Danny, but I also said I don't want to work on it. I don't really want to play a role, and Andrew said, 'Leave it to me.' So he's gone off and is working on it."
Though he wouldn't share any details, Garland called the idea "pretty simple," adding, "Don't you think those are, in a way, better? Because there is no momentum now, and you've had an organic, real spark about where I can take this. And it just popped into your head, kind of thing. Rather than, 'Okay, I'm going to make a sequel.'"
Garland will most likely just receive a story credit on 28 Months Later. Meanwhile, he's set to follow Ex Machina with another writer-director role on the upcoming film Annihilation, which is rumoured to star Natalie Portman.
