Long Range Forecast: The Horror Genre Looks For Another Summer Win With 28 YEARS LATER

© 2024 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo by Miya Mizuno

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Long Range Forecast — June 20, 2025

28 Years Later | Sony

Domestic Opening Weekend Range: $30M – $40M

Fast zombies return as Alex Garland and Danny Boyle, the writer-director team behind 28 Days Later, reteam for the third film in the series, following 2007’s direct sequel 28 Weeks Later. Though Boyle has been on a bit of a break from the big screen lately—his last film was 2019’s fantasy romcom Yesterday ($17M domestic opening, $73.2 domestic total)—Garland has written and directed two theatrical releases to hit theaters in the past two years: 2024’s Civil War ($25.5M domestic total, $68.7M domestic total) and 2025’s Warfare ($8.3M domestic opening, $25.9M domestic total), the former of which is currently A24’s highest global earner.

Horror movies have had a good summer at the box office so far, with Easter weekend release Sinners ($48M domestic opening, $267.7M domestic total as of 6/2) riding strong word-of-mouth to top-five placement through Memorial Day weekend, and Final Destination: Bloodlines ($51.6M domestic opening, $113.1M domestic total as of 6/2) becoming the highest-grossing film in the Final Destination franchise in less than a week.

28 Years Later, like Final Destination: Bloodlines, is a continuation of a horror series that’s been absent from theaters since the low aughts (the previous Final Destination film came out in 2011, and 28 Weeks Later came out in 2007). Tonally, 28 Days Later and its sequels have more in common with the A Quiet Place franchise, both series being post-apocalyptic in nature. While 28 Years Later takes us further into the downfall of humanity, A Quiet Place most recently went back to the beginning with last year’s A Quiet Place: Day One ($52.2M domestic opening, $139M domestic total), which—like 28 Years Later—came out the last weekend of June. Our forecasting puts 28 Years Later‘s opening weekend lower than A Quiet Place: Day One‘s $50M-plus debut gross in part because the latter series was much more fresh in moviegoers’ minds, with previous installments having come out in 2018 and 2020. Positive reviews and word-of-mouth for 28 Years Later could help pique interest among younger audiences unfamiliar with the first two films.

Tracking Updates [as of June 6]

6/6From the World of John Wick: Ballerina$32M – $40MLionsgate6/6The Phoenician Scheme (expansion)$5M – $8MUniversal / Focus Features6/13How to Train Your Dragon$75M – $100MUniversal6/13The Materialists$5M – $8MA246/20Elio$25M – $35MDisney/Pixar

© 2024 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photo by Miya Mizuno