28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’s Netflix Release Date Confirmed (& It’s Soon)

Last summer, Danny Boyle returned to his classic horror franchise with the legacy sequel 28 Years Later. Earning positive reviews, the film was a box office success ($151.3 million worldwide against a $60 million production budget), setting expectations high for the follow-up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Directed by Nia DaCosta, the sequel earned enthusiastic reviews praising its strong performances, but that did not translate to ticket sales. The Bone Temple was unfortunately a box office bomb, making just $57.9 million globally. Fortunately, the horror film will soon have another opportunity to find its audience, as it’s set to debut on streaming very soon.

According to What’s on Netflix, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will be added to the Netflix library on March 31st. This will mark the first time the film is available to watch on a streaming service. It’s been available to rent or purchase on various PVOD platforms like Apple and Amazon.

What Is the Future of the 28 Years Later Series?

There have been plans in place for a third 28 Years Later film, which was reportedly moving forward back in December (about a month before The Bone Temple opened). Sony was probably expecting The Bone Temple to perform at least as well as its predecessor, but that clearly did not happen. Despite premiering over a relatively uncompetitive window in the middle of January, The Bone Temple was not a commercial draw. This has caused some to wonder if the next movie will ever actually come to fruition — especially after the movie’s official social media accounts promoted the digital release with the tagline “Witness the ending you’ve been waiting 28 years for.”

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ends on a cliffhanger that sets up the next installment, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. The film industry is still a business, and studios want to make money off of their investments, especially when it comes to genre works like horror movies. Sony might have been confident in 28 Years Later‘s future after the success of the first film, but after seeing how poorly the second film fared, they might be hesitant to formally give the third movie the green light. That would be a disappointing turn of events, especially because fans were excited to see Cillian Murphy return to star.

There have been multiple instances of box office bombs that go on to find a much larger audience on streaming. Those hoping to see the finale of the 28 Years Later trilogy could rest their hopes on The Bone Temple becoming a major hit on Netflix, communicating to Sony that there’s still an interest in the franchise. However, that may not be enough to convince the studio to sign off on the third film. Tron: Ares was a huge draw on Disney+ after an underwhelming box office run, but its commercial performance means the franchise will likely be put on ice. It’s much easier to people to try something on streaming when all they have to do is push play at home, so a strong showing on Netflix doesn’t mean moviegoers will turn out in full force for another 28 Years Later film.

Hopefully there’s still a way for the third 28 Years Later movie to get off the ground, giving Boyle the opportunity to finish the story he wanted to tell. The Bone Temple was already moderately budgeted at $63 million, but perhaps if there’s a way to scale back production costs even more, Sony would be willing to roll the dice in the hopes of it being a sleeper hit. Another possibility could be negotiating with a streamer for distribution. It would be a shame if the last chapter of the trilogy didn’t get a proper big-screen release, but fans would probably prefer to see it any way they can than not at all.

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