28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE Featurette Dives into the Rage Virus’s Evolution and the Future of the Jimmys

Sony Pictures has released a new international vignette for the upcoming sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and it is loaded with fresh footage and interesting story teases that expand the world Danny Boyle and Alex Garland built more than two decades ago.

This featurette gives fans their clearest look yet at how the Rage Virus has evolved and how the so called Jimmys factor into the terrifying new chapter.

The promo focuses heavily on Dr. Kelson’s ongoing experiments with the infected and how those efforts collide with Jimmy Crystal’s story.

We hear from filmmaker Nia DaCosta, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Danny Boyle, with Boyle confirming that the continued mutation of the Rage Virus is central to the upcoming film. The glimpse at Dr. Kelson’s plans gives the sequel an unsettling scientific edge that feels right at home in this franchise.

DaCosta’s direction is also highlighted throughout the vignette. While her last outing with Marvel Studios’ The Marvels stumbled, her horror chops were well established with Candyman and she looks fully locked in here.

Boyle has already said he intends to return to direct a third film starring 28 Days Later lead Cillian Murphy, though that future is far from guaranteed. Despite strong reviews, 28 Years Later only earned $151.3 million worldwide on a $60 million budget and Boyle has openly admitted that the trilogy’s completion depends on whether DaCosta’s sequel succeeds.

Addressing Murphy’s long awaited return to the franchise, Boyle teased, "She gets a bit of Cillian at the end. All I can say is you have to wait for Cillian, but hopefully he will help us get the third film financed."

He added, "You promise [the studio] Cillian Murphy, that's quite a deflection of any technical concerns, they soon forget. Yeah, we nakedly used that to get our own way. What better promise could you make?"

The film’s official synopsis reads: “In a continuation of the epic story, Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself in a shocking new relationship, with consequences that could change the world as they know it.

“Spike's (Alfie Williams) encounter with Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) becomes a nightmare he can't escape. In the world of The Bone Temple, the infected are no longer the greatest threat to survival the inhumanity of the survivors can be stranger and more terrifying.”

Between Kelson’s mysterious relationship, Jimmy’s disturbing trajectory, and the evolving Rage Virus, this sequel seems set to push the mythology into darker, more unpredictable territory. The new featurette makes clear that the Jimmys are at the center of something big and possibly catastrophic.

Directed by DaCosta and written by Alex Garland, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is produced by Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, and Garland, with Cillian Murphy serving as executive producer.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hits theaters January 16, 2026.