Box Office: ‘28 Years Later’ Targets $30M Opening as Danny Boyle’s Zombie Saga Stirs Mixed Audience Buzz

Sony’s 28 Years Later eyes a $28M-$30M debut, boosted by strong preview numbers but tempered by lukewarm audience scores. Meanwhile, How to Train Your Dragon continues to dominate the weekend.

Sony’s 28 Years Later is shambling toward a $28M-$30M opening weekend across 3,444 theaters, with Friday estimates at $14 million. Directed by Danny Boyle, the long-awaited follow-up to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later has generated strong early momentum—thanks to $5.8M in Thursday previews—but faces mixed reactions from audiences that could limit its box office legs. Despite that, the film is still pacing ahead of horror peers like Scream (2022) and Longlegs (2023), while falling short of juggernauts like Final Destination: Bloodlines.

---

28 Years Later, the third installment in Danny Boyle’s cult-favorite zombie franchise, debuted strong with a $14M Friday and is tracking for a $28M–$30M opening weekend across 3,444 theaters. While this is a solid start for an R-rated horror film with a mature-skewing audience, industry experts note that it was never expected to match the explosive debut of Final Destination: Bloodlines, which opened with $51.6M.

By comparison, 28 Years Later outpaces the Friday earnings of Scream (2022) at $13.3M and Longlegs (2023) at $10M, putting it firmly in the competitive horror landscape. Despite the initial excitement, it looks set to settle in second place for the weekend, as How to Train Your Dragon continues to soar with a $35.2M second weekend, including a $10.7M Friday, pushing its total cume to $158.6M.

Disney’s animated original Elio opened to $9M on Friday (including previews), eyeing a modest $22M–$24M weekend. The film, backed by strong critic reviews (86% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), plays across 3,750 theaters, including premium formats like IMAX and 3D. Though preview numbers came in at $3M, the film hopes to mirror the slow-burn success of Elemental, which opened at $29.6M and eventually grossed $154.4M domestically.

Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch holds strong in its fifth weekend with a $10M three-day estimate and a cumulative total of $387M. Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning saw a $6.6M fifth weekend (-37%) for a domestic cume of $178.4M, already pacing 14% ahead of its predecessor Dead Reckoning.

In limited release, A24’s Materialists is facing a 51% drop in its second weekend, taking in $5.4M for a 10-day total of $23.5M.

Despite a promising $5.8M in Thursday previews—higher than genre staples like A Quiet Place and Scream VI—28 Years Later may be facing headwinds. Its Rotten Tomatoes audience score sits at 68%, and PostTrak surveys reveal only a 54% definite recommend. Demographically, the film skewed older, with men over 25 making up 52% of the audience and awarding the film a 75% positive score.

This entry marks Danny Boyle’s return as director and Alex Garland as screenwriter, reuniting the team behind 28 Days Later (2002). That film opened at $10M from 1,261 theaters, while the 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later launched with $9.8M from 2,303 theaters.

Despite some fan disappointment, the film has earned the best critical reception of the franchise with a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes. That puts it ahead of Bloodlines, which balanced strong reviews (92%) with a high audience approval of 87%.

Elsewhere in the top 5:

• Materialists (A24): $1.8M Friday, $5.4M weekend estimate
• Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning: $1.7M Friday, $6.6M weekend
• Lilo & Stitch (Disney): $3M Friday, $10M weekend
• How to Train Your Dragon: $10.7M Friday, $35.2M weekend estimate

With Juneteenth falling mid-week, several films saw bumps in daily grosses: Lilo & Stitch (+16%), Materialists (+7%), and Mission: Impossible (+22%) among others. However, mixed reception for 28 Years Later may keep it from achieving breakout status.

Still, with a compelling franchise legacy and Boyle’s directorial return, the film remains a major summer talking point—especially as original horror properties continue to hold strong appeal in a superhero-dominated market.