Latest news with #28YearsLater:
Gulf Weekly
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gulf Weekly
Silver screen sensation
Scottish-Bahraini thespian Ghazi Al Ruffai's latest thriller film 28 Years Later is entertaining audiences worldwide, shining a bright spotlight on the kingdom's cinematic talent. The 25-year-old, who attended St Christopher's School, is also set to star in the sequel 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which will release in January next year. 28 Years Later is the third instalment in the series, following 28 Days Later (2002) and 28 Weeks Later (2007), and explores the second outbreak of the 'Rage' virus. There are plans for a fifth film 28 Years Later Part 3. A group of survivors from the first outbreak live on a small island. When a member of the group leaves the island on a mission into the mainland, he discovers a mutation that has spread to not only the infected, but other survivors as well. 'Filming 28 Years Later was simply wild! Everything was very tight-lipped during the audition process, so I never knew I'd be playing a key role,' said the former Riffa resident who currently lives in London and brings 'Jimmy Snake' alive on the big screen. During the initial outbreak of the virus, Jimmy (played by a different child actor) flees from his house after his family gets infected. While taking shelter at a local church, he finds his father, a local vicar, who gives him a necklace and urges him to escape, succumbing to the virus in the process. 'I make my first appearance at the end of the first film as part of the cliff-hanger, and the lead-up was intense. We had weeks of stunt training, which consisted of fight choreography, acrobatics and weaponry,' he added. Elaborating on his experience filming, the creative talent who lived in Bahrain for 19 years before moving to the UK said: 'The whole thing was so surreal; I still pinch myself about it. Above all, to be directed by Danny Boyle, a true legend that I have admired for so long, was a dream come true. Being able to work with legends such as Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell was like witnessing a masterclass in acting daily. On top of that, my fellow Jimmies and I truly became a family. We all just clicked instantly that it felt like we had known each other for years.' Ghazi has always had the 'acting bug' in him and was an 'expressive' child growing up, forcing his siblings to join him and put on shows for their parents. However, he did not think it could happen. That changed during his years studying at St Christopher's School. 'At St Christopher's, I was able to explore drama in an academic setting. The drama department was incredibly supportive, and that encouragement helped me take acting a bit more seriously,' he said. However, a real turning point came when Ghazi joined the Makan School of Speech and Drama and met its founder and acting instructor Ruqaya Aamer, who helped him hone his craft and find his voice as an actor. 'I credit so much of my growth and success to her,' he noted. The actor, who visits regularly, was in Bahrain in January this year when he visited St Christopher's and gave a talk to Year 12 and 13 drama and acting students, sharing his journey and offering tips. After graduating school, Ghazi moved to the UK in 2018 to pursue acting professionally and trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the Guildford School of Acting. Towards the end of his studies at Guildford, he landed an agent and it has been 'go go go' ever since. His past projects include Layla (2024), and the docudrama Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (2025), in which he portrayed Khaled Megrahi. In addition to his screen work, Ghazi is a prominent content creator on social media, where his comedic and character-driven videos have built a dedicated following of more than 200,000. He is passionate about using his platform to challenge stereotypes and spotlight under-represented voices in the industry.
Dubai Eye
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Dubai Eye
Danny Boyle uses iPhones to revive '28 Days' zombie film franchise
More than two decades after the release of his zombie apocalyptic horror hit "28 Days Later", director Danny Boyle is returning to the franchise with a fresh set of eyes and a twist on a new technology. The original film was set against the background of a "rage virus" that destroyed Britain and forced residents into quarantine. It was followed by the sequel 28 Weeks Later, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Even more time has passed in 28 Years Later, which is released this week and reunites Boyle with the original film's writer, Alex Garland. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Alfie Williams, the movie follows a young boy's journey with his father from a closed-off community on an island to the mainland to kill his first zombie. His mother grapples with an illness which isolates her from the rest of her community and threatens to tear the family apart. "There'd be occasional screenings of (28 Days Later) and ... it hadn't really dated," Boyle told Reuters at the world premiere of 28 Years Later on Wednesday night. "More importantly, the people's reaction to it felt like they were watching something very present day... And that led us to start thinking, should we introduce something else into this world?" One of the innovations was the camera setup. Boyle got in close to the action by sometimes using up to 20 iPhones at a time on special rigs. "Smartphones, they will now shoot at 4K resolution, which is cinema resolution. So you can use them," Boyle said. "They are incredibly light. You can go somewhere with a very light footprint and you can also build special rigs with them, which is what we did for some of the violent action in the movie." Taylor-Johnson said the technique gave the film a "visceral and immersive" texture. "It would make me feel a bit vulnerable at times because it's very invasive." 28 Years Later will also be first of a new trilogy of movies, with the second - 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple - due in January.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sony Unleashes Extended Footage Of ‘28 Years Later', Screens Scenes From Darren Aronofsky's Austin Butler-Starrer ‘Caught Stealing'
As it prepares to unleash Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later around the globe later this week, Sony showed off the first 28 minutes of the zombie thriller for exhibitors here at the CineEurope conference in Barcelona. Boyle introduced the footage via video message, saying this 'new journey' is the 'start of something big.' The first trailer dropped back in December and is the third most-watched horror trailer ever with 60.2 million views in its first 24 hours, while Deadline reported earlier this month that in the first 24 hours of ticket sales domestically, 28 Years Later became the best horror pre-seller of the year to date. More from Deadline Tubi UK Strikes Content Deals With NBCUniversal, AMC & Sony Glenn Close & Billy Porter Join Cast Of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' - CineEurope '28 Years Later': Sony's Danny Boyle Pic Is Biggest Advance Ticket Seller For Horror Pic YTD, Eyes $34M+ Opening The second film in the newly revamped trilogy — 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — will hit North American theaters on January 16, 2026. At the start of Sony's presentation, Steven O'Dell, President of International Marketing and Distribution, said to the assembled exhibitors, 'I hope everyone is sitting here with a lot more confidence about the present and the future vs. the angst we have felt over the last five years… This year is the moment to make our bets and we all have big bets to make. On the movie side, our job is to create compelling content and market the heck out of it, to get people excited to go to a movie. While on the cinema side, it is your challenge to invest in, and modernize, the cinema experience to get people thinking every week about going to the cinema.' He continued, 'When we are both operating at the top of our game, we create a shared experience that is a bedrock of entertainment all around the world.' Other footage that screened during Sony's presentation included two scenes from Darren Aronofsky's Caught Stealing starring Austin Butler, and which releases domestically on August 29 this year. Aronofsky sent a video message from New York where he said he's in the final stages of editing, and explained he'd wanted to make 'a romp, caper, adventure' set in the East Village during a time of 'peak humanity,' before 9/11, when 'Y2K was the biggest threat.' Also sending a message was Sam Mendes who mused on his epic four-picture project about The Beatles which he called 'in every sense an entirely unique event.' The quartet of movies is due in April 2028. And, Scarlett Johannson, fresh off the Cannes unveiling of her feature directing debut, Eleanor the Great, sent a video message about the 'personal' film, saying 'every frame is etched in my DNA.' Sony is releasing internationally and Sony Pictures Classics domestically with a date TBD. Among other trailers and footage were a sizzle reel for Paul Rudd/Jack Black Christmas release, Anaconda, and a scene and new trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer which releases in July. There are three big anime movies up ahead which each got a mention, Crunchyroll's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle releasing September 12 in North America, followed by Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc which begins rollout on September 24 internationally and goes domestic on October 29, as well as Scarlet, a world-creation story of a brave princess who transcends time and space (U.S. release December 12). On the local-language front, Sony pointed to upcoming pics such as France's Forced Vacation, the Sisu sequel from Finland which releases in the U.S. on November 21 and the continuation of Spanish franchise Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno with the 5th installment. Director and star of the latter, Santiago Segura, sent a cheeky message to CineEurope urging the Spanish exhibitors in the audience to applaud so the non-Spaniards would know he is 'huge in Spain.' Best of Deadline 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
Business Insider
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Danny Boyle confirms Jack O'Connell's cult leader in '28 Years Later' was inspired by Jimmy Savile: a BBC star outed as a prolific sexual abuser
"28 Years Later" introduces Jack O'Connell as Sir Jimmy Crystal, a strange cult leader. The character and his followers were inspired by the infamous British TV presenter, Jimmy Savile. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland told BI the character explores themes of selective memory. Warning: Spoilers ahead for "28 Years Later." As if living in the zombie-ridden, post-apocalyptic Britain of " 28 Years Later" wasn't traumatic enough, a strange cult leader is also in the mix. And he looks a bit familiar. At the end of the film, its young protagonist Spike (Alfie Williams) is taken in by a new group of survivors led by a man who calls himself Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell). Between his name and his style — Crystal and his followers wear vibrant purple tracksuits, heavy gold jewelry, and have long blond hair — there's a striking resemblance to the notorious British media personality and sex offender, Jimmy Savile. According to "28 Years Later" director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, that's by design, and that reference hits on key themes of the film. Savile, who began working for the BBC in the 1960s, was outed as a sexual abuser after his death in 2011, when hundreds of allegations were made against him and multiple inquests were carried out into his crimes. It's unclear if in the world of the horror franchise, where the outbreak of the Rage Virus decimated the UK in 2002, Savile's crimes were ever revealed to the public or if he remained an icon celebrated for his eccentric television persona and fundraising efforts (he was given a knighthood for his charity work in 1990). Either way, O'Connell's character is meant to hit a nerve. "He's as much to do with pop culture as he is to do with sportswear, to do with cricket, to do with the honors system," Boyle told Business Insider of Savile. "It's all kind of twisting in this partial remembrance, clinging onto things and then recreating them as an image for followers." "He's a kaleidoscope, isn't he?" Garland added, referring to O'Connell's character. "A sort of trippy, fucked up kaleidoscope." O'Connell's role will lend itself to bigger themes around selective memory in the upcoming sequel, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," which is out January 16, 2026. Garland said that "The Bone Temple" — and ideally a third film in the "28 Years Later" trilogy, if Boyle gets it greenlit — focuses on how different groups try to construct a future based on what they do and don't remember about the past. "The thing about looking back is how selective memory is," Garland said. "It cherry picks and it has amnesia, and crucially, it also misremembers. We are living in a time right now which is absolutely dominated by a misremembered past." "28 Years Later" is in theaters now.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
20 iPhones replaced traditional movie cameras on Danny Boyle's '28 Days' zombie movie. Why are they better?
LONDON -More than two decades after the release of his zombie apocalyptic horror hit "28 Days Later", director Danny Boyle is returning to the franchise with a fresh set of eyes and a twist on a new technology. The original film was set against the background of a "rage virus" that destroyed Britain and forced residents into quarantine. It was followed by the sequel "28 Weeks Later", directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Even more time has passed in "28 Years Later", which is released this week and reunites Boyle with the original film's writer, Alex Garland. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Alfie Williams, the movie follows a young boy's journey with his father from a closed-off community on an island to the mainland to kill his first zombie. His mother grapples with an illness which isolates her from the rest of her community and threatens to tear the family apart. "There'd be occasional screenings of ("28 Days Later") and ... it hadn't really dated," Boyle told Reuters at the world premiere of "28 Years Later" on Wednesday night. "More importantly, the people's reaction to it felt like they were watching something very present day ... And that led us to start thinking, should we introduce something else into this world?" One of the innovations was the camera setup. Boyle got in close to the action by sometimes using up to 20 iPhones at a time on special rigs. "Smartphones, they will now shoot at 4K resolution, which is cinema resolution. So you can use them," Boyle said. "They are incredibly light. You can go somewhere with a very light footprint and you can also build special rigs with them, which is what we did for some of the violent action in the movie." Taylor-Johnson said the technique gave the film a "visceral and immersive" texture. "It would make me feel a bit vulnerable at times because it's very invasive." "28 Years Later" will also be first of a new trilogy of movies, with the second - "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" - due in January. (Editing by Andrew Heavens)
