Nia DaCosta says she was “disappointed” when 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple tanked at the box office in January — but refuses to distance herself from the film itself. Speaking to Empire magazine, the director confronted the commercial failure head-on while maintaining that the critical and audience response told a completely different story.
“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,” DaCosta told the magazine. Her assessment tracks. The film earned a 92% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81 on Metacritic, indicating “universal acclaim.” Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave it an A−, a jump up from its predecessor’s B grade.
The numbers on the other end of that equation were brutal. The Bone Temple grossed $25.1 million domestically and $33.4 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $58.5 million — against a reported $63 million production budget. Its predecessor, 28 Years Later, had pulled in $151 million globally the previous summer. The film landed on VOD after just 32 days in theaters, and arrived on Netflix on March 31 — only 74 days after its theatrical release.
DaCosta pointed to the compressed release window as a likely factor. She suggested the film may have arrived “maybe too soon” after the first movie, and noted that some viewers appeared to believe The Bone Temple was simply a re-release of 28 Years Later rather than a distinct sequel. Despite the disappointment, she said: “I wish it made more money, but I’m really proud of it.”
The fallout leaves the trilogy’s planned conclusion in limbo. Prior to The Bone Temple’s release, Sony announced it was moving forward with a third installment, with Cillian Murphy in talks to reprise his role as Jim from 28 Days Later and Alex Garland returning to write. The weaker performance has since raised serious questions about whether that film will happen at all. Cillian Murphy recently said “hope so” when asked about part three — hardly a firm commitment.
For DaCosta, the result extends a pattern of critically praised films failing commercially. Candyman opened mid-pandemic in 2021, and The Marvels became the lowest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe film ever in 2023.
