Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The final part of the 28 Years Later trilogy is officially happening, reports Alasdair Stuart.

Heat Vision reports that Cillian Murphy is in talks to star and that development has actively begun. Alex Garland is writing, as he did the previous movies (bar 28 Weeks Later, but don’t let that stop you, it’s really good) and Danny Boyle is returning to direct.

The original movie, covering the release of a virus that turns everyone it infects into a murderously angry berserker, is a curiosity now. The digital video it was shot on looked bad then and worse now and there are some very weird choices that almost breaks it. 28 Weeks Later, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by Fresnadillo, Rowan Joffé, E.L. Lavigne and Jesus Olmo does some fascinating things with trauma response and what happens after a disaster but remains unfairly unloved by hardcore fans. 28 Years Later, released earlier this year, is a stunning, furious exploration of grief and post-Brexit UK shot through the lens of three decades in a plague zone. It too, makes some wild choices, especially in the Jimmys, the seemingly Jimmy Savile-modelled nihilist warrior monks Spike is recruited by at the end of the movie.

The Bone Temple, the second movie, releases in under a month and is directed by Nia DaCosta, whose version of Hedda is out now and is neck and neck with Edgar Wright in directors Marvel have really messed up with. The concern was that because Bone Temple is directed by a woman of colour in charge of a pulse and opinions, the worst elements of the internet would steamroll it into oblivion and then complain that ‘the writing wasn’t good enough’ or whatever this week’s cover story is. But advanced word is very good, so off we go! Hurray!

28 Days, Weeks and Years Later are all available on streaming and disc now. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple releases on 16th January