The trailer for 28 Years Later instantly become the second most-watched horror trailer of all time (second only to It Part 2, for some reason), and it really is a truly excellent spot that defies most tropes of trailers like this (no slow motion pop song, for one). Here it is:
Right around when this aired, Sony announced that they were solving one of modern media’s weirdest mysteries, the fact that you have not been able to legally buy or watch 28 Days Later, physically or digitally, for years now. Something about rights issues there, but Sony never figured it out until right this minute. Now, you can watch it again. And I just did.
No, 28 Days Later has not headed to an existing service where you can just watch it for a subscription. You must in fact buy or rent the movie, albeit it doesn’t cost as much as a new release, which is nice. You can get it:
It’s $5-6 to rent and $15 to buy. The direct sequel, 28 Weeks Later, has not been hard to find and has been streaming this whole time due to a lack of rights issues like the first one had. You can stream that on Hulu right now, or rent/buy elsewhere. That was written and directed by a new team, whereas Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reteaming for 28 Years Later, out June 20, 2025.
A word of warning before you watch 28 Days Later, however. Yes, the movie is from 2003 so any movie from back then is going to have aged significantly. But this was a very early digital film and it was meant to look a bit hazy and lo-fi. It certainly does, and that effect is only amplified with our modern giant OLED screens. Sony did not attempt to really do anything to change the quality as there is probably not much that can even be done, given the way it was filmed. I do not think this makes the movie worse and you adjust to it pretty quick, but it was a little jarring when I started it up, as I forgot the details on how this was originally made.
Absolutely recommend heading back to it again, as it totally holds up and the cast has gone on to do great things, Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Naomie Harris (Skyfall/Spectre), Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who). 28 Years Later stars a new crop of high profile actors including Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes. I cannot wait to watch it next year.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
