Cillian Murphy’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Breaks Into PVOD Top 10

by

Cillian Murphy is widely known for playing Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders, but he first gained prominence starring in the zombie horror film 28 Days Later. Twenty-four years later, he’s reprised his role in a new installment that’s now available digitally and proving to be very popular.

The zombie series now includes four movies, and it made a comeback in 2025 with 28 Years Later. While Murphy wasn’t involved in the second and third films, he officially joined the series with the revival. Despite a disappointing performance in cinemas, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple quickly became the third most popular title on the Apple TV store, according to FlixPatrol.

The horror film 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple became available on digital platforms on February 17th, only a month after its January 16th theatrical release. This was a surprisingly quick transition, as most movies play in theaters for about 40 days before becoming available to stream. However, because the fourth film in the series didn’t do well in theaters, Sony Pictures decided to release it on streaming services sooner than usual.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Underperformed in Theaters

The 28 Days Later series has earned $362.9 million globally on a production budget of $146 million. Although earlier films did well financially, The Bone Temple didn’t perform as expected at the box office, even though it received the best reviews of any film in the series.

Following the 2025 film 28 Years Later, a new chapter titled The Bone Temple continues the story. The original director, Danny Boyle, and writer Alex Garland returned, though they had only produced the 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later. This time, Boyle let Nia DaCosta direct, while Garland still wrote the screenplay. Both The Bone Temple and 28 Years Later were filmed at the same time.

With a budget of $63 million, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple earned just $56.9 million worldwide, according to The Numbers. This is significantly less than the previous film in the series, which made $151.2 million worldwide on a $60 million budget.

The film has received positive reviews, earning a high score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88% audience approval rating. It’s also been designated as “Certified Fresh” and “Verified Hot” by Rotten Tomatoes.

The actor, absent from the last two installments, unexpectedly returned with a new storyline: his character now has a daughter. While he doesn’t play a major role in The Bone Temple, his appearance confirmed he’s still part of the story.

What’s Next for the 28 Days Later Franchise?

Originally, the recently announced film, 28 Years Later, was planned as the first part of a three-movie series, all written by the same screenwriter. While the second film was shot immediately after the first, it’s currently unknown who will direct a possible third movie. Given that the latest film didn’t do as well as expected, the future of the series is uncertain.

Despite an official announcement, a recent report from World of Reel suggests Sony isn’t prioritizing a third film right now. While there haven’t been any recent updates on the trilogy, strong viewership numbers on video-on-demand services could potentially speed up development.

You can now rent or buy 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on all major digital platforms. While a specific streaming date hasn’t been announced, the movie will eventually be available on Peacock.

Read More

2026-02-18 20:06