28 Weeks Later
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28 Weeks Later | |
UK Promotional film poster |
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Directed by | Juan Carlos Fresnadillo |
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Produced by | Andrew Macdonald Allon Reich Enrique Lopez-Lavigne Danny Boyle Alex Garland |
Written by | Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Enrique Lopez-Lavigne Rowan Joffe Jesús Olmo |
Starring | Rose Byrne Jeremy Renner Mackintosh Muggleton Imogen Poots Harold Perrineau Robert Carlyle Catherine McCormack Idris Elba |
Music by | John Murphy |
Cinematography | Enrique Chediak |
Editing by | Chris Gill |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox / Fox Atomic |
Release date(s) | 11 May 2007 (UK, US) |
Running time | 100 min. |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Gross revenue | $64,227,835
£32,113,424 (worldwide) |
Preceded by | 28 Days Later |
Followed by | 28 Months Later |
28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British post-apocalyptic horror film, and reboot 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 11 May 2007. It was mostly filmed in London, England with some scenes also being filmed in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Don (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) prepare dinner where they are living with an old couple and 2 other people that are the only survivors in a heavily reinforced cottage somewhere in rural, Rage virus–infected Britain. As they are taking their meal, they suddenly hear a young boy banging on the door begging to be let in. At first they argue not to open it due to the Rage virus' outbreak. Don opens the door to let the child inside, who says he is from Sandford and has been fleeing his parents who are now 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; Don abandons Alice and escapes in a boat, emerging as the sole survivor.
Over the course of 28 weeks, the infected have all starved to death and Britain is declared relatively safe again, allowing for re-population. The re-construction of Britain begins. The process proceeds throughout the weeks.
An American-led NATO force, under the command of Brigadier General Stone (Idris Elba), begins repopulating the country with both old and new residents. The chief medical officer of District 1, Major Scarlet Ross (Rose Byrne), is surprised by the inclusion of the very young, amongst whom are Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), Don and Alice's children who were in Spain during the initial outbreak.
At 12 years old, Andy is the youngest person in Britain, and during their subsequent medical inspection, Major Ross 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 on the Isle of Dogs guarded by the United States Army, including a detachment from Delta acting as a rooftop unit observation team. With them are a sergeant, Doyle (Jeremy Renner), and an observation helicopter pilot Flynn (Harold Perrineau). The children are reunited with their father Don, who is now head caretaker of the district. Inside their new penthouse, Don tearfully recounts his escape, saying that Alice was killed by the infected, but misrepresents the truth, saying that he witnessed Alice's death, to hide the fact that he fled and abandoned her to her fate.
The very 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 displaying few symptoms, labeling her an asymptomatic carrier, as evidenced by her bloodied eye. Though Ross wants to keep Alice alive to seek a possible vaccine or cure, she is overruled by Stone, who wants Alice killed to prevent a possible further outbreak of Rage.
Don visits his children in a holding room, where they confront him about his version of Alice's death. He then makes an unauthorized visit to Alice in her isolation cell, using his caretaker passcard to bypass security, and asks for forgiveness, which she seemingly grants. But when they kiss, the Rage virus in her saliva immediately infects Don, much to Alice's horror. Now infected, he brutally kills her and goes on the prowl in District 1, attacking and infecting soldiers.
The outbreak forces the area into lockdown. All the civilians are quarantined in a safe room, which Don forces his way into, and begins to infect the confined civilians. Ross manages to rescue Tammy from containment but Andy gets separated from the group. Doyle and the soldiers are ordered, at first, to shoot the infected, but the chaos escalates into "Code Red": a general extermination of the populace to prevent any possible spread of the Rage virus, after which everyone gets fired upon. Doyle, unable to bring himself to comply with the drastic order, abandons his post and escapes with Ross, the children and others through an underground tunnel. Stone then orders that District 1 be fire-bombed, killing the populace and causing massive devastation. Meanwhile, large numbers of the infected, including Don, escape the initialized bombardment, occupying the city.
Stopping to rendezvous with Flynn's helicopter at the derelict remains of Regent's Park, Ross 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, citing that they would be blown out of the air if he attempts to break the Code Red protocol. Suddenly, one member of the group grabs on to the helicopter skids, screaming at Flynn to take him with him. Flynn attempts to shake him off the helicopter, sweeping over a horde of oncoming infected, killing them with the rotor blades, and dislodging the man. He tells Doyle to head to Wembley Stadium, and Doyle heads off with his group of civilians. The group breaks into an abandoned car to escape the infected and the clouds of chemical 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 flamethrowers. Ross drives into the London Underground to evade a pursuing Apache helicopter, where she, armed with Doyle's M4 rifle, and the children continue on foot. She tries to guide their way with the night vision mode on the rifle's optic. When they are separated, Ross is ambushed and killed by Don, who has followed them. Don attacks Andy and bites him. Tammy shoots Don and saves Andy from death, though he is infected with the Rage virus. Andy remains symptom-free like his mother, though his eye turns the same color as his mother's was after infection. The children continue to Wembley Stadium and are picked up by an at first reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel to France. While flying, they see the incinerated District 1 and the remains of London. No one alive, other than Tammy, knows that Andy is a carrier of the virus.
Another 28 days pass, someone calls for help over the radio of Flynn’s helicopter, which turns out to be abandoned. A swarm of infected are shown running through a subway exit, the Palais de Chaillot toward the Eiffel Tower as people's screams can be heard, revealing that the Rage virus has spread to mainland Europe.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Production
[edit] 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.[2] |
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.[2]
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.[3] 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."[4] Boyle hired Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project after seeing Fresnadillo's 2001 film Intacto.[5] Fresnadillo stated that he was "thrilled working on his first English language film alongside such an exciting international cast and talented production team."[6]
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".[7]
[edit] 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.[3] On 23 August 2006, Jeremy Renner was announced to portray Doyle, one of the principal characters for 28 Weeks Later.[8] On 31 August 2006, Harold Perrineau was announced to portray a US Special Forces pilot in the film.[9]
[edit] Filming
On 1 September 2006, principal photography for 28 Weeks Later began in London[10] with much of the filming taking place at Canary Wharf. [11]
[edit] Promotion
[edit] Biohazard warning
On 13 April 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.[12] The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, as well as stating that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!".
[edit] 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.[13]
[edit] Viral advertising
Removable graffiti was sprayed in locations around London and Birmingham featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and quickly snapped up by a cybersquatter. The advertising agency who made the mistake agreed to purchase the rights to the domain for an undisclosed sum.[14]
[edit] 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 9 May 2007.[15]
[edit] Reception
Prior to the film's opening the MPAA gave 28 Weeks Later an R rating for strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity. The film has been rated 18 in the UK. The film opened in 2,000 cinemas across the United States.[16]
28 Weeks Later garnered generally positive reviews.[17] View London called the film an "exciting, action-packed and superbly directed thriller that more than lives up to the original film"[18]. 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",[19] as well as "best horror film of the year".[20] The film has generated a rating of 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with 98 positive reviews and 42 negative ones.[21] 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 $35,586,549 in other countries, bringing the worldwide total to $64,225,465.[22]
[edit] 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.[23] |
In June 2007, it was announced that if DVD sales of the film did well Fox Atomic would consider producing the third film.[24]
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.[25]
In October 2008, Boyle discussed with Karmalooptv the high possibility of a 28 Months Later. The interview can be found here.
[edit] Soundtrack
The trailer for this film featured the song "Want" by Witchman. "Shrinking Universe" by Muse (Hullabaloo Soundtrack album) was used in the second part of the trailer.
[edit] References
- ^ ""This is London - 28 Weeks Later"". http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23393642-details/London,+four+years+after+28+days+later/article.do. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ a b "28 Weeks Later planned". Rotten Tomatoes. 2007-07-17. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/28_weeks_later/about.php. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ a b "Boyle Talks 28 Days Sequel". Sci Fi Wire. 2005-03-14. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue412/news.html. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ "28 Weeks Later Plot Revealed". Coming Soon. 2006-10-01. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=16316. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ "28 Weeks Later Director Hired". Rotten Tomatoes. 2007-07-17. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/28_weeks_later/about.php. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ "28 Weeks Later Director Speaks". Coming Soon. 2006-10-01. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=16316. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ "28 Weeks Later Script Approvied". Rotten Tomatoes. 2007-07-17. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/28_weeks_later/about.php. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ Gardner, Chris (2006-08-23). "'Later' leading man". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117948922?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ Crabtree, Sheigh (2006-08-31). "Perrineau hits a triple on film side". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003085620. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ "28 months Later". http://comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=16316.
- ^ "28 British Waterways' Film Map: Canals and rivers on screen". http://www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/films.
- ^ News, BBC (2007-04-13). "'Biohazard' image on Dover cliffs". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6553503.stm. Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
- ^ Roston, Sandee (2006-07-19). "HarperCollins Publishers and Fox Atomic Announce Graphic Novel Publishing Imprint". http://www.harpercollins.com/footer/release.aspx?id=474&year=2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ B3ta Newsletter 274
- ^ Roston, Sandee (2006-07-19). "Bloody-Disgusting Prop Giveaway". http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/8701. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 2007-05-11. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=419864. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 2007-05-12. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=419864. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
- ^ "View London". 2007-05-11. http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/review_3247.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
- ^ "New York Times". 2007-05-11. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html&OQ=_rQ3D2Q26title1Q3D28Q2520WeeksQ2520LaterQ2520Q2528MovieQ2529Q26title2Q3D28Q2520WeeksQ2520LaterQ2520Q2528MovieQ2529Q26reviewerQ3DAQ252eQ2520OQ252eQ2520ScottQ26pdateQ3D20070511Q26v_idQ3D355446Q26partnerQ3DRottenQ2520TomatoesQ26orefQ3Dslogin&OP=1aaf792dQ2FQ2AAKeQ2AqQ5EiKQ5CnQ20Q2AZiVQ5C!!qGQ2A!fsiKZiKnQ2AQ20sEQ5EKqQ27GxxQ2FQ2AfKEQ5EKAQ23MiQ20P. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
- ^ S l a s h e r p o o l . c o m
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes". 2007-05-12. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/28_weeks_later/. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
- ^ "28 Weeks Later at Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=28weekslater.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
- ^ "MTV". 2007-07-16. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1564535/20070711/story.jhtml. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
- ^ "Bloody Disgusting". 2007-06-27. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/9228. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
- ^ "MTV". 2007-07-16. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1564535/20070711/story.jhtml. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- 28 Weeks Later at the Internet Movie Database
- 28 Weeks Later at Allmovie
- 28 Weeks Later at Rotten Tomatoes
- 28 Weeks Later... at MetaCritic
- 28 Weeks Later Trailer at Apple.com
- Production photos at Yahoo!
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