28 Days Later was famously shot on low-fi digital video to give it a raw, real look. For 28 Years Later, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland decided to honor that legacy by keeping that homemade, real feel—but updated for today. Since people now use iPhones everywhere, it made sense to use them to film parts of this movie.
Below, you can see the first look at iPhones with attachments being used to film sequences in 28 Years Later. Special rigs were created to use as many as 20 iPhones at a time for certain shots. The custom-built rigs were designed specifically to support multi-iPhone setups.
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who shot the original film, returned for the sequel. The film uses a 2.76:1 widescreen aspect ratio, typically reserved for epic formats like IMAX or Ultra Panavision—an unusual but bold choice for a horror-thriller.
IGN reported that several production techniques were used in an attempt to achieve that immersive feeling for 28 Years Later, including attaching cameras to actors, using special sensors, designing rigs to house multiple cameras, employing drones, and working with a wide variety of camera types and lenses. This also included three special rigs for the iPhone sequences.
Boyle said, “One for eight cameras, which can be carried very easily by one person, one for 10 cameras, and one for 20.” Boyle added, “I never say this, but there is an incredible shot in the second half [of the film] where we use the 20-rig camera, and you’ll know it when you see it. … It’s quite graphic but it’s a wonderful shot that uses that technique, and in a startling way that kind of kicks you into a new world rather than thinking you’ve seen it before.”
Boyle continued, “Wherever, it gives you 180 degrees of vision of an action, and in the editing you can select any choice from it, either a conventional one-camera perspective or make your way instantly around reality, time-slicing the subject, jumping forward or backward for emphasis.” he added, “As it’s a horror movie, we use it for the violent scenes to emphasise their impact.”
In 28 Years Later, nearly three decades after the Rage Virus outbreak, a small family lives in peace on the isolated island of Lindisfarne. Isla (Jodie Comer) is pregnant, living with her husband Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and their 12-year-old son Spike. When danger reaches their safe haven, they’re forced to return to the infected mainland — a place full of chaos, cults, and no hope of rescue.
There, they meet other survivors, including Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who is trying to understand what’s left of the world, and Erik (Edvin Ryding), a lost NATO soldier. But the biggest threat is Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), the leader of a strange and dangerous cult who believes the end of the world is near. Now, the family must do everything they can to survive — and stay together — in a world that’s falling apart.
Directed by Boyle and written by Garland, it is the third film in the 28 Days Later series, following 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007).
The film is produced by Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, and Alex Garland, with Cillian Murphy serving as the executive producer. It is a production of Columbia Pictures, DNA Films, BFI, and Decibel Films.
28 Years Later will hit theaters on June 20, 2025, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.
Source: IGN
