When Danny Boyle and Alex Garland first announced “28 Years Later,” they made it clear their ambitions went beyond a single movie, outlining a planned trilogy with Boyle directing the first instalment, Nia DaCosta taking over for the second chapter—“The Bone Temple”—and Boyle returning to close out the story.
The two films were shot back-to-back and both received strong critical reception, but the sequel struggled commercially, with ‘The Bone Temple’ earning $58M worldwide compared to the $151M grossed by “28 Years Later,” which itself slightly underperformed.
The narrative around ‘The Bone Temple’ has been bizarre from the start. Great reviews, filmmaker and screenwriter pedigree, and yet—zero traction. No audience found.
In a new interview with Empire, DaCosta expresses surprise at the results:
It’s so funny, because literally every barometer we use in the industry to determine whether or not a movie is good, and people like it and want to see it, was through the roof, and yet our box office wasn’t there […] We made a great film, and I’m really proud of it, and people liked it.
She also questions whether the timing hurt its performance—“maybe too soon, because people were like, ‘Oh yeah, I saw that last summer!’” She does not, however, explicitly address Sony’s January release strategy, an unusual placement on the calendar that gives the impression of a studio effectively dumping the film.
While DaCosta admits being “disappointed” by the film “not doing so well,” she remains proud of it, saying, “I’m so happy that when people find the film, they’re going to enjoy the film. I wish it made more money, but I’m really proud of it.”
Sadly, it doesn’t look like the film has been found on streaming either, with “The Bone Temple” still struggling to gain traction on streaming platforms and reportedly showing low numbers in its recent Netflix debut. It’s a shame, because I actually quite liked the film. It takes real risks, but maybe that was the problem—it sacrifices fan service in favor of artistic ambition, and clearly alienated the broader audience expecting a visceral horror revival.