28 days later biography of william hill

post-apocalyptic horror production by Danny Boyle

This article is about the horror film. For the comics, see 28 Days Later (comics). For the lovey-dovey comedy film, see 28 Days (film).

28 Days Later is a British post-apocalyptichorror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland.

It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental discharge of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society. Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, and Brendan Gleeson appear in supporting roles.

Garland took inspiration from George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead film series and John Wyndham's novel The Night of the Triffids. Filming took place in various locations in the United Kingdom in The crew filmed for brief periods during early mornings and temporarily closed streets to capture recognisable and typically busy areas when they were deserted.

John Murphy composed an original soundtrack for the film, with other instrumental songs by Brian Eno, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and other artists also being featured.

28 Days Later was released on 1 November to critical acclaim and financial success.

Grossing more than $ million worldwide on its modest budget of $8 million, it became one of the most profitable horror films of Reviewers praised Boyle's command, the cast's performances, Garland's screenplay, the atmosphere and soundtrack. Despite Boyle not considering it a zombie film, 28 Days Later is credited with reinvigorating the zombie genre of horror motion picture and influencing a revival in the genre a decade after its release, with its fast-running infected and character-driven drama.^[3][4] Since its release, it has been featured in several "best-of" clip lists and maintained a monitoring, particularly amid the COVID pandemic in the s.

The film's success launched its titular movie series, including 28 Weeks Later (), and 28 Years Later which is scheduled for discharge in Additional sequels are currently in development, while a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, and the — comic book series 28 Days Later also expanded the series into other media.

Plot

A collective of animal rights activists infiltrate a laboratory in Cambridge. One activist frees a chimpanzee, despite being warned by a scientist that it is infected with a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus called the "Rage Virus." The enraged chimpanzee attacks the activist and within seconds of exposure, she succumbs to the virus and immediately attacks the others, becoming the patient zero of the epidemic.

The virus spreads rapidly across Great Britain, resulting in total societal collapse.

Twenty-eight days later, bicycle courier Jim, who had an accident and fell into a coma before the outbreak, awakens in St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Vanishing the completely deserted hospital, Jim wanders the streets of London and eventually enters a church. There, he is chased by infected humans before being rescued by survivors Selena and Tag, who take Jim to their refuge in a streetside store.

At Jim's request, the organization travel on foot to his parents' house in Deptford. There, he learns that they died by suicide, leaving a mention in which they prayed he did not wake up. As it is too late to return to their hideout, the group decides to stay the night.

While the others are asleep, Jim lights a candle and reminisces over memories of his family. The infected, attracted by the light, break into the house. While fending them off, Mark is wounded. Before infection can take hold, Selena immediately hacks Mark to death in front of a horrified Jim.

Spotting a makeshift signal from afar, Jim and Selena make their way up Balfron Tower. They encounter cab driver Frank and his daughter Hannah in one of the apartments. Frank shows them a military broadcast offering protection at a blockade in Manchester.

With supplies dwindling, Frank plans to get Hannah to the blockade. Jim and Selena agree to accompany them.

Probably the only motion picture in the subgenre that I truly liked was director Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later" (). The movie depicts the effects of a contagious viral outbreak that causes the mass population in the U.K. to rotate into violent, enraged monsters out to attack those who last uninfected.

The group travels to Manchester in Frank's cab. Upon arriving, they find the blockade deserted. Frustrated, Frank kicks at a crow sitting on uppermost of a hanging dead body, resulting in a drop of blood from the dead body falling into Frank's eye, infecting him.

Soldiers arrive on the scene and shoot Frank expired.

The soldiers bring Jim, Selena, and Hannah to a fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West. However, the safety promised by the soldiers turns out to be a ruse.

West reveals to Jim that the broadcast was intended to lure female survivors into sexual slavery. Jim and Sergeant Farrell refuse to go along with West's plan, so West orders them to be shot. Two soldiers shoot Farrell and then argue, allowing Jim to escape.

Jim sees a jet contrail in the sky, exhibiting proof of outside survivors for the first time. After luring West away from the mansion with an alarm and killing a soldier, he releases Intimate Mailer, an infected soldier kept chained for observations.

The remaining soldiers are all infected or killed. Private Mitchell attempts to abduct Selena but Jim surprises and kills him with such ferocity that Selena momentarily fears Jim must be infected. Jim, Selena, and Hannah attempt to escape in Frank's cab, but West, hiding in the assist seat, shoots Jim.

Hannah retaliates by putting the cab in reverse, allowing Mailer to yank West through the rear window and kill him, while the three survivors drive off.

Another twenty-eight days later, Jim recovers at a remote cottage in Cumbria, where the infected are shown lying openly on the roads, dying of starvation.

As a Hawker Hunter jet flies overhead, Jim, Selena, and Hannah unfurl a huge cloth banner spelling the word "HELLO". The three survivors watch the jet as the pilot spots them.

Cast

Main article: List of characters in the 28 Days Later film series

• Cillian Murphy as Jim, a bicycle courier who was previously in a coma
• Naomie Harris as Selena, a chemist and battle-hardened survivor
• Brendan Gleeson as Frank, a taxi driver
• Megan Burns as Hannah, Frank's daughter
• Christopher Eccleston as Major Henry West, the commander of a group of renegade soldiers in Manchester
• Noah Huntley as Mark, a survivor and Selena's partner
• Stuart McQuarrie as Sergeant Farrell, the only one of the renegade soldiers to oppose West
• Ricci Harnett as Corporal Mitchell, a renegade soldier
• Leo Bill as Intimate Jones, a renegade soldier
• Luke Mably as Private Clifton, a renegade soldier
• Junior Laniyan as Private Bell, a renegade soldier
• Ray Panthaki as Private Bedford, a renegade soldier
• Sanjay Rambaruth as Private Davis, a renegade soldier
• Marvin Campbell as Secret Mailer, a soldier who had been infected before Jim's arrival

Additionally, Alex Palmer, Bindu De Stoppani, and Jukka Hiltunen portray the animal liberation activists, while David Schneider portrays a scientist at the laboratory.

Christopher Dunne and Emma Hitching appear as Jim's parents. Toby Sedgwick plays an infected priest encountered by Jim.

On the DVD commentary, Boyle explains that with the aim of preserving the suspension of disbelief, relatively unknown actors were cast in the film.

Cillian Murphy had starred primarily in small independent films, while Naomie Harris had acted on British television as a child, and Megan Burns had only one previous film credit. However, Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson were well-known character actors.

Production

Development

Early influences on Garland included the George A. Romero films Night of the Living Dead () and Dawn of the Dead (), which he loved as a child but said that he had largely forgotten about the zombie genre until he played the video game Resident Evil (), which reminded him how much he loved zombies after "having not really encountered zombies for quite a while".^[5][6] Boyle liked Garland's screenplay for a proposed zombie film, having directed the film adaptation of Garland's novel The Beach.^[6]

Producer Andrew Macdonald had access to funding from the National Lottery, and pitched it to Universal Pictures, who declined to support it.

Budget constraints proved to be an issue, with Christopher Eccleston having to take an emergency disburse cut.^[6]

On the DVD commentary, Boyle and Garland frequently call it a post-apocalyptic and horror motion picture, commenting on scenes that were quotation of George A.

Romero's Dead trilogy. During the initial marketing of the film, Boyle tried to distance the production from such labels. Boyle identified John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids as Garland's unique inspiration for the story.^[7][8][9]

Five months after the film was released in Europe, video game publisher NovaLogic hosted a graffiti challenge in a cross-promotion with the game Devastation.

The connection was mainly due to the similar theme of a devastated society. The prizes consisted of signed screenplays and posters along with DVDs.^[10] For the zombies, Boyle took inspiration from real-life diseases like Ebola along with aspects of rabies.^[11]James McAvoy auditioned for a role as a zombie.^[12]

Filming

The film features scenes set in normally bustling parts of London, such as Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Horse Guards Parade and Oxford Street.

To depict these locations as desolate, the production crew closed off sections of street for minutes at a time, usually in early morning before sunrise on Sundays. They typically had around 45 minutes after dawn to shoot the locations devoid of traffic and members of the public.

Portions of the film were shot on a Canon XL1digital video (DV) camera.^[13][6] DV cameras are much smaller and more manoeuvrable than traditional film cameras, which would have been impractical on such brief shoots.

The scenes of the M1 motorway devoid of traffic were also filmed within limited periods. A mobile police roadblock slowed traffic sufficiently to leave a long section of carriageway empty while the scene was filmed. The section of the motorway depicted in the film is near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, around miles southeast of Manchester.^[14]

For the London scene in which Jim walks by the overturned double-decker bus, the film crew placed the bus on its side and removed it when the shot was finished, all within 20 minutes.^[15] The crew had asked permission to place the bus outside Downing Street, but Westminster Metropolis Council ordered them to place it elsewhere.

Hill Place: Humanity and Hope in "28 Days Later" - Blogger: 28 Days Later is a British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagious, aggression-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.

When they arrived at 4am and nobody from the council was present, they placed it outside Downing Street anyway.^[6]

The September 11 attacks took place during filming.^[6] Boyle notes the parallel between the "missing persons" flyers seen at the beginning of the film and similar flyers posted in New York City in the wake of the attacks.

Boyle said his crew probably would not have been granted permission to close off Whitehall for filming after the terrorist attacks.^[16] The production team hired an optometrist to supervise with the red contact lenses needed for cast members playing the infected.^[6]

The mansion used in the film was Trafalgar Park close Salisbury.^[17][18] Many rooms, including the Cipriani-painted music room and the main hall, were filmed with minimal set decoration.

The scenes set upstairs were filmed downstairs, as the mansion's owner resided upstairs.^{[citation needed]} The old ruins used as the setting for an idyllic interlude in their journey to Manchester were those of Waverley Abbey, Surrey.

The end scenes of the motion picture with Jim, Selena and Hannah living in a rural cottage were filmed around Ennerdale in Cumbria.^[19]

At a certain point, Macdonald announced to the crew that the production had run out of money.

Filming ceased without a closing sequence being shot. After pitching several different ideas for an ending and the original ending which featured Jim's death tested badly with audiences, the studio granted more funding to film the ending scene that was eventually used.

The crew organised for a true jet to fly overhead for them to film, as this was cheaper than approximately £70, for a computer-generated one.^[6]

Alternative endings

The DVD extras include three alternative endings, all of which conclude with Jim dying.

One of these was filmed, which emotionally attached Jim dying of his gunshot wounds.^[20] In another, Jim dreams of the accident that left him in a coma while he dies from his gunshot wounds.^[21] The third, a more radical departure, was presented only in storyboards; instead of Frank being killed by soldiers after being infected, the other survivors tie him up and find a research laboratory at the blockade, where Jim undergoes a blood transfusion in order to save Frank.^[20] The U.S.

cinematic release included one of the alternative endings after the film's credits in response to intense online debates over whether or not it was a more appropriate conclusion than the official ending.^[22]

Music

Main article: 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album

The film's score was composed by John Murphy and was released in a score/song compilation in The score features electric guitar and atmospheric electronic production.

It also features notable tracks from Brian Eno, Grandaddy and Blue States.^[23]

A heavily edited version of the footpath "East Hastings" by the post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor appears in the film, but the track is excluded from the soundtrack, because Boyle could only obtain the rights to use it in the film.^[24]

28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album was released on 17 June A modified version of the soundtrack "In The House – In A Heartbeat" was used as the character Big Daddy's theme in the film Kick-Ass.

Inverse speaks to Boyle, journalist Alex Garland, and nine others to reveal new details about the making of a contemporary horror classic. Few films form the audience sit up and pay attention more immediately than 28 Days Later. The film was always operating on barely enough money to get by. Christopher Eccleston, who appears in the later part of the film, agreed to an emergency pay cut.

The same tune was played in the advertisement campaign of Louis Vuitton, L'Invitation au Voyage.^[25] In , the song was remixed to add the theme of The Terminator by Brad Fiedel for the second trailer of Terminator: Dusky Fate.^{[citation needed]}, and also eventually again remixed and used in the video game Metro Exodus.

Reception

Box office

28 Days Later was a considerable success at the box office and became highly profitable on a budget of about £5&#;million. In the UK, it took in £&#;million, while in the US, it became a surprise hit, taking over $45&#;million despite a limited discharge at fewer than 1, screens across the country.^[1] The clip garnered over $&#;million worldwide.^[2]

Critical reception

Critical views of the film were positive.

On the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of critics' reviews gave 28 Days Later a positive review, with an average rating of / The site's consensus reads: "Kinetically directed by Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later is both a terrifying zombie movie and a sharp political allegory."^[26] On Metacritic, the film received a rating of 73 out of based on 39 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[27]

Bravo awarded it the th spot on their list of 'The Scariest Movie Moments' in a four-episode television series.

The commentators explained that making the zombies move fast for the first time was a bright and effective idea.^[28][29] In , Stylus Magazine named it the second-best zombie movie of all time.^[30] The film also ranked at number in Empire's list of the greatest movies of all time.^[31]Bloody Disgusting ranked the film seventh in their list of the Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade, with the article saying "Zombie movie?

Political allegory? Humanist drama? 28 Days Later is all of those things and more—a genuine work of art by a director at the uppermost of his game. What's so amazing about the film is the way it so expertly balances scenes of white-knuckled, hell-for-leather horror with moments of intimate beauty."^[4] In , a poll of actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine ranked it the 97th-best British film ever.^[32]

Cultural impact

28 Days Later had an impact on horror films,^[3] and was credited with starting a revival for the zombie genre,^[5][3][33] along with the Resident Evil franchise.^[5][3][34] The remake of Dawn of the Dead, for example, was influenced by 28 Days Later.^[5]28 Days Later was followed by other infection films such as Shaun of the Dead (), Black Sheep (),^[33]Planet Terror (), Dead Snow () and Zombieland (), as well as books such as World War Z (), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies () and Warm Bodies (),^[3] and zombie-themed graphic novels and television shows such as The Walking Dead.^[33] The zombie revival trend lasted for more than a decade after 28 Days Later, before eventually declining in popularity by the late s.^[3]

During the COVID pandemic, images of a national lockdown in the United Kingdom and stay-at-home orders elsewhere were compared to the opening sequence of 28 Days Later.^{[35][36][37][38]} In , Megan Burns said of the film, "When I joined the cast of 28 Days Later I had no idea of how vast a cultural impact it would have and what a game-changer it would be to the 'zombie' genre.

Even now after all these years, (or perhaps especially now with the current situation) people want to converse about the film and that's incredible."^[39] Director Christopher Nolan said he cast Murphy as Scarecrow in Batman Begins () after being impressed by his production in 28 Days Later.^[40]

Accolades

• Best Horror Film ( U.S.

  Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films&#;– Saturn Award)^[41]

• Best British Production (Empire Award)^[42]
• Danny Boyle (Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver)^[43]
• Best Director – Danny Boyle (International Fantasy Film Award)^[44]
• Best International Film – Danny Boyle (Narcisse Award)^[43]
• Best Breakthrough Performance – Naomie Harris (Black Reel)^[43]
• Best Cinematographer – Anthony Dod Mantle (European Motion picture Award)^[43]

Subsequent media

Sequels

A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was released on 11 May ^[45] Danny Boyle and Alex Garland took producing roles alongside Andrew Macdonald.

The plot revolves around the arrival of American troops about seven months after the incidents in the original film, attempting to repair order and revitalise a nearly desolate Britain. The cast includes Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Mackintosh Muggleton and Idris Elba.

In March , Danny Boyle said that he would be interested in making a third film in the series, 28 Months Later.^[46] In , he said "Alex Garland and I have a superb idea for the third part".^[47]

In January , it was announced that a third film in the series, 28 Years Later, was in development.

It is considered the first installment in a potential trilogy, with Boyle directing the first film and Garland writing all three. With a planned $75 million budget per installment, the duo will also produce the trilogy alongside the original producer Andrew Macdonald and former Fox Searchlight Pictures head Peter Rice.^[48] Cillian Murphy will reprise his role as Jim.^[49]

Comic books

Fox Atomic Comics, in association with HarperCollins, released a graphic novel bridging the period gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, written by Steve Niles.

28 Days Later, a comic sequel also linking Days and Weeks and produced by Fox Atomic (until its demise) and Boom! Studios, began production in The series focuses on Selena and answers questions about her in the film and her sequel whereabouts.^[50][51]

Digital availability

By November , 28 Days Later had become taken on Disney-owned streaming services including its removal from Disney+ Celestial body internationally, hinting that Disney had lost rights to it; only its sequel, 28 Weeks Later (still owned by Disney), was available on streaming sites.^[52][53]

In February , it was revealed that producer Andrew MacDonald had bought back the rights to the film from Searchlight Pictures, promptly selling it to Sony Pictures along with the upcoming sequel 28 Years Later.^[54][55] In December , following a largely favourable response from the public to the trailer for 28 Years Later, Sony announced that it would be making 28 Days Later available for purchase on digital and rental platforms from December ^[56]

See also

Notes

References

External links