28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later
File:28weekslater2 large.jpg
Directed by	Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Written by	Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Enrique Lopez-Lavigne Rowan Joffe Jesús Olmo
Produced by	Andrew Macdonald Allon Reich Enrique Lopez-Lavigne Danny Boyle Alex Garland
Starring	Robert Carlyle Rose Byrne Jeremy Renner Harold Perrineau Catherine McCormack Idris Elba Imogen Poots Mackintosh Muggleton Amanda Walker
Cinematography	Enrique Chediak
Edited by	Chris Gill
Music by	John Murphy
Distributed by	Fox Atomic
Release dates	11 May 2007 13 July 2007 13 September 2007
Running time	99 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British post-apocalyptic horror film, and sequel to the 2002 film 28 Days Later. The film was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States on May 11, 2007.

Plot

Don (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) prepare dinner for their group of survivors in a heavily reinforced cottage somewhere in rural, Rage-infected-Britain. As they eat their meal, they suddenly hear a young boy banging on the door begging to be let in. Don opens the door to let the child inside, who says he is from Sandford and has been fleeing his parents who are "infected". Moments later, a pack of the Infected discover the hideout and break in, quickly overwhelming the group. Alice refuses to leave without the boy; a panicked Don abandons Alice and escapes in a boat, emerging as the sole survivor.

Over the course of 28 weeks, the infected have died of starvation and Britain is declared relatively safe again. An American-led NATO force begins repopulating the country with both old and new residents. Chief medical officer Major Scarlet Ross (Rose Byrne) is startled by the sudden arrival of children. Among the children are Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), Don and Alice's children who were in Spain during the initial outbreak. 12 years old, Andy is the youngest person in Britain. During their subsequent medical inspection, Scarlet notes Andy's heterochromia, a trait he inherited from his mother. Andy and Tammy are subsequently admitted to District 1, a heavily-reinforced, fully functional section of London in the Docklands guarded by the United States Army, including Sergeant Doyle (Jeremy Renner) and helicopter pilot Flynn (Harold Perrineau). They are reunited with their father Don, who is now head caretaker of the district. Inside their new penthouse, Don tearfully recounts his escape, revealing that Alice was killed by the Infected. But he misrepresents the truth, saying that he witnessed Alice's death, to hide the fact that he fled. The next day, the two children slip out of the safe zone to return to their old home, where Andy discovers Alice, disheveled but alive. Andy and Tammy are recaptured by the US Army while Alice is decontaminated. A blood test reveals that she is infected with the Rage virus, but not displaying any symptoms, labeling her an asymptomatic carrier, as evidenced by her bloodshot eye. Though Scarlet wants to keep Alice alive to seek a cure, she is overruled by her superior.

Don visits his children in a holding room, where they confront him about his version of Alice's death. He then visits Alice in her isolation cell, and asks for forgiveness. Without thinking, they kiss; the Rage virus in her saliva immediately infects Don. Now an Infected, he kills her and goes on the prowl in District 1, attacking and infecting soldiers. The outbreak forces the area into lockdown, but not in time to prevent Don from forcing his way into the safe room, where he begins to kill and infect the confined civilians. Scarlet rescues Tammy and Andy from containment, and they flee together as chaos spreads to the streets. Doyle and the soldiers are ordered to shoot the Infected, but the chaos escalates into "Code Red": a general extermination of the populace. Doyle, unable to bring himself to comply with the order, abandons his post and escapes with Scarlet and the children as District 1 is incinerated by napalm. Meanwhile, large numbers of the Infected escape the bombardment, occupying the city.

Stopping to rendezvous with Flynn's helicopter at the derelict remains of Regent's Park, Scarlet informs Doyle that the key to curing infection is in the children, who may have the same immunity as their mother. Flynn arrives by helicopter to pick up Doyle, but refuses to take anyone else. A mob of Infected appear and pursue the group, forcing them to flee. To aid their escape, Flynn uses his helicopter rotor blades to kill dozens of Infected before leaving, designating Wembley Stadium as the new rendezvous. The group breaks into an abandoned car to escape the Infected and the clouds of poisonous gas being vented into the city by the military. In the process of starting the car by pushing it, Doyle is killed by soldiers with NBC suits and flamethrowers. Scarlet drives into the London Underground to evade a pursuing helicopter, where she and the children continue on foot, guiding their way with the night vision scope on Doyle's rifle. When they are separated, Scarlet is ambushed and killed by Don, who has followed them. Don attacks Andy and bites him. Tammy shoots Don and saves Andy, who remains symptom-free like his mother. The children continue to Wembley Stadium and are picked up by a reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel to France.

At the end of the film, another 28 days later, a group of Infected are shown running through a subway tunnel through the Palais de Chaillot toward the Eiffel Tower, revealing that the Rage virus has spread to mainland Europe.

Cast

Actor	Role	Notes
Robert Carlyle	Donald "Don" Harris
Jeremy Renner	Sergeant Doyle
Rose Byrne	Major Scarlet Ross
Idris Elba	Brigadier General Stone
Catherine McCormack	Alice Harris
Harold Perrineau	Flynn
Imogen Poots	Tammy Harris
Mackintosh Muggleton	Andy Harris
Shahid Ahmed	Jacob
Emily Beecham	Karen
Garfield Morgan	Geoff
Amanda Walker	Sally

Production

Pre-production

"We were quite taken aback by the phenomenal success of the first film, particularly in America, We saw an opportunity to make a second film that already had a built in audience. We thought it would be a great idea to try and satisfy that audience again".

— Danny Boyle on 28 Weeks Later.

In 2003, plans for the film were conceived after the enormous international success of 28 Days Later. Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland stated that they felt the time was right to make a sequel.

In March 2005, Boyle said in an interview that he would not direct the sequel due to commitments to Sunshine, but he would serve as executive producer. He also revealed that the film would deal with a great deal of the aftermath from the first movie. It was also revealed that the film would revolve around the "US Army declaring the war against infection had been won, and that the reconstruction of the country could begin." Boyle hired Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project after seeing Fresnadillo's 2001 film Intacto. Fresnadillo stated that he was "thrilled working on his first English language film alongside such an exciting international cast and talented production team."

Both Fresnadillo and Lopez-Lavigne were involved in writing the script, which revolved around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film, which the producers "liked a lot".

Casting details

Boyle said in March 2005 that the sequel would feature a new cast, since previous cast members Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris were occupied with their own projects. On 23 August 2006, Jeremy Renner was announced to portray Doyle, one of the principal characters for 28 Weeks Later. On 31 August 2006, Harold Perrineau was announced to portray a US Special Forces pilot for the film.

Filming

On September 1, 2006, principal photography for 28 Weeks Later began in London. Locations used in London include: Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf, Charing Cross, Charing Cross tube station, CityPoint, Greenwich Foot Tunnel, Hyde Park, Wembley Stadium, Millennium Stadium, Parliament Square, Shaftesbury Avenue, Therapia Road and Three Mills Island Studios and also the white cliffs of Dover. The escape from the cottage that opens the film was filmed at Stokers Farm, south of Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The film's final scene was filmed on Palais de Chaillot in Paris.

The film was shot on 35mm film and concluded late November 2006. Scenes involving Andy and Tammy running away from District 1 were filmed early in the morning.

Promotion

Biohazard warning

On April 13, 2007, 28 days before the release of the film in UK cinemas, a huge biohazard warning sign was projected against the White Cliffs of Dover. The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, as well as stating that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!".

Graphic novel

In July 2006, Fox Atomic Comics and publisher HarperCollins announced that they were publishing a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath in early 2007 to bridge the gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

Viral advertising

Removable graffiti was sprayed in locations around London featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and quickly snapped up by a b3ta reader. The advertising agency who made the mistake agreed to purchase the rights to the domain for an undisclosed sum.

Prop giveaway

In April 2007, Bloody-Disgusting.com promoted the film by giving readers a chance to win a prop from the film. The props were included in a "District 1 Welcome Pack”, which featured an actual ID card and an Evening Standard newspaper with an evacuation headline. The giveaway was only open for North American residents and entries closed on May 9, 2007.

Reception

Prior to the film's opening the MPAA gave 28 Weeks Later an R for strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity. The film has been rated 18 in the UK. The film has opened in 2,000 cinemas across the United States.

28 Weeks Later garnered generally positive reviews. View London called the film an "exciting, action-packed and superbly directed thriller that more than lives up to the original film". The New York Times wrote that "28 Weeks Later is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques", as well as "best horror film of the year". The film has generated a rating of 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with 98 positive reviews and 42 negative ones. The film made $9.8 million in its opening weekend, coming in second place at the box office, behind Spider-Man 3. The film has grossed $28,638,916 in the U.S. and $26,572,472 in other countries, bringing the worldwide total to $55,211,388.

Reviewers have commented on parallels between the film's plot and the Iraq War.

Sequel

"Well, I didn't want to do the second one, because I was involved in Sunshine But I went out and I helped them [with 28 Weeks Later]. I did some second-unit shooting on it. And I really enjoyed it, actually. There's something about doing something trashy that's great. Where basically you just come in the door and you just kill them. That was rather refreshing."

— Danny Boyle on directing.

In March 2007, Boyle announced plans to create a third chapter of the film franchise, which will be given the title 28 Months Later with a 2009 release date, thus creating a trilogy. Boyle has stated that his thoughts are to set the movie in Russia

In June 2007, it was announced that if DVD sales of the film did well Fox Atomic would consider producing the third film.

In July 2007, while promoting Sunshine, Boyle revealed that he has a story formulating for the next film. "There is an idea for the next one, something which would move [the story] on. I've got to think about it, whether it's right or not." Boyle also revealed that he would return as the director.

DVD, Blu-ray & UMD Releases

The film was released on DVD on September 10, 2007 in Region 2 territories, and on October 9, 2007 in Region 1 territories. The film was made available in anamorphic widescreen and includes deleted scenes with optional commentary, and theatrical trailers. Other extras include audio commentary and various featurettes including: Making Of 28 Weeks Later, Make-Up Effects, Getting Into The Action and a 28 Days Later: The Aftermath Flash-Animated Graphic Novel.

The film was a considerable success, grossing almost $27 million in rentals, which is about 94% of its gross in theatres in America according to Box Office Mojo.

The Blu-ray release includes an AVC MPEG-4 encode as well as DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 surround audio on a BD-50 disk.

The movie has also been released on UMD for the Sony PSP.

Soundtrack

Main article: 28 Weeks Later Soundtrack

The theatrical trailer for this film featured the song "Shrinking Universe" by Muse.

External links

• Official Site
• 28 Weeks Later at IMDb
• 28 Weeks Later at Rotten Tomatoes
• 28 Weeks Later... at MetaCritic
• 28 Weeks Later Trailer at Apple.com
• Production photos at Yahoo!