Latest news with #zombies
Gizmodo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
James Wan Offers a Mildly Discouraging Update on That ‘Train to Busan' Remake
Released in 2016, Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan proved there were still plenty of fresh thrills to be mined from the zombie genre. It spawned an animated prequel and a sequel, and nobody was surprised when an American remake, to be titled The Last Train to New York, was announced. A 2023 release date made things official… almost. Obviously, The Last Train to New York—which at one point had Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, this year's Nobody 2) attached to direct and Gary Dauberman (It and It Chapter Two) penning the script—has yet to actually get off the ground. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, would-be producer James Wan said The Last Train to New York is still 'a passion project' for his company, Atomic Monster, while also making it sound like it's very much on the back burner right now. 'Everything about it is really exciting,' he said. 'I hope that could get off the ground eventually. Got to be honest with you, I'm not quite sure where it sits right now.' If The Last Train to New York ever happens, it sounds like horror fans should expect more of a reimagining than a remake—though you have to suspect 'zombies on the subway' will still play a big part of the story. 'Creatively, it takes place in the same world as Train to Busan,' Wan told EW. '[The zombie outbreak is] happening epidemically around the world. So if Train to Busan is this particular slice of the story in South Korea, we want Train to New York to be the one set in America.' There's been no shortage of zombie tales for the gruesomely inclined lately—28 Years Later just hit theaters—and American remakes of foreign horror hits don't always succeed. However, The Last Train to New York does sound intriguing. Are you holding out hope it'll eventually come into the station? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Twist Ending Of ‘28 Years Later,' Explained
Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes in '28 Years Later' Sony Pictures 28 Years Later is an unusual sequel, showing the aftermath of the Rage Virus of 28 Days Later , telling a compelling, stand-alone story that sets up another sequel for the franchise. 28 Days Later is credited with popularizing the 'fast zombie' to cinemas, and like many iconic zombie films, concludes with a plot twist hinting that humans are the real monsters. 28 Years Later takes a different approach—it's a late sequel and standalone coming-of-age story that illustrates how life moves on, even after the apocalypse, while setting up an intriguing sequel, The Bone Temple . The film begins with a bungled attempt by Jamie (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) to induct his twelve-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) into manhood by taking him on a scavenging hunt to the mainland where he can see the remnants of British society, and make his first kill. Spike feels deeply disappointed by his father when Jamie later lies about his prowess, and cheats on his chronically ill mother, Isla (Jodie Comer)—Isla is suffering from a mysterious ailment that leaves her disoriented and in pain. When Spike finds out that there's a doctor living on the mainland, he sets off with his mother to try and cure her sickness, leaving his father behind. Spike and his mother struggle to survive in the formidable landscape of post-apocalypse Britain, and discover that the Rage Virus has evolved. '28 Years Later' Introduces New Zombie Lore The original 28 Days Later is credited with introducing the 'fast zombie,' but the infected of this world aren't technically zombies at all—they're living hosts to the Rage Virus, which keeps victims in a state of psychotic fury. Unlike traditional zombies, the infected can starve to death, and can be taken down by a shot to the heart, but can withstand terrible pain and injury, seemingly without noticing, as their body is constantly flooded with adrenaline. While the infected don't exactly look their best, they're not as ravaged as traditional zombies, and do not seem to decay if they maintain a heavy protein diet. 28 Years Later introduces crawling, bloated bottom-feeders known as 'Slow Lows,' and 'Alphas,' which are much taller and stronger than the average infected. Alphas all seem to share a fixation with tearing out the heads and spinal columns of their victims, wielding them as a kind of hunting trophy. The film hints that there's more to these infected than what we once knew, as a pregnant infected woman gives birth to a non-infected baby, and displays a touch of humanity during her delivery. The Alpha who impregnated her seems horrified by her murder, implying that the infected don't just have sex lives, but seemingly, affectionate relationships. It's just a glimpse of humanity, but it's an intriguing development that hints that the infected could eventually evolve beyond mindless hoards. What Happens At The End Of '28 Years Later'? Spike and Isla take the miracle baby to shelter, a temple made of bones constructed by Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). While Spike's father was terrified of Kelson due to his fixation with the dead, Spike learns that the man is paying his respects to the deceased by maintaining a memorial tower of skulls. Kelson has learned to live in peace surrounded by violence, and chooses to subdue the infected with sedatives rather than slay them. Kelson tells Spike that his temple is an ode to the inevitability of death—he literally calls it a 'Memento Mori.' Kelson then diagnoses Isla with terminal cancer, underlining his point. Spike's mother informs him that she always felt that she was dying, but wanted someone else to tell him. Spike's father may have tried to harden him to the murderous life of a scavenger, but he never told him the bitter truth about his mother. Kelson teaches Spike how to grow beyond his parents, giving Isla a mercy killing and allowing Spike to place her skull on the top of the structure. Spike learns to accept death and suffering, but understands that he cannot lose hope. Hope, of course, is represented by the miracle baby, which Spike names after his mother. 28 Years Later draws a similar conclusion to the animated film The Boy and The Heron , proposing that the old ways are dying, and deservedly so, but something new is emerging from the embers. Spike leaves the newborn Isla with his community, then moves on, so he can travel the mainland in solitude. At the very end, Spike encounters the child we saw during the very first scene of the film, whose father abandoned him to religious delusion during the initial outbreak, a man known as 'Sir Jimmy Crystal' (Jack O'Connell). Sir Jimmy Crystal gives deeply unsettling vibes from the get-go, and while his bizarre gang of hoodlums do save Spike's life, it's implied that Spike may have wandered into a much worse situation. As 28 Days Later concludes, humans are the real monsters—we'll soon see what becomes of Spike when the upcoming sequel, The Bone Temple , is released. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes HBO's 'The Last Of Us' Season 2 Finale, Explained By Dani Di Placido Forbes Alex Garland Is A Great Choice To Direct The 'Elden Ring' Movie By Dani Di Placido Forbes The Dream Logic Of 'The Boy And The Heron,' Explained By Dani Di Placido Forbes The Bittersweet Ending Of 'Sinners,' Explained By Dani Di Placido
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'28 Years Later' star Chi Lewis-Parry spills the deets on his massive zombie pole
28 Years Later star Chi Lewis-Parry is talking about the one big thing that's been on everyone's mind since the film premiered last Friday. The long-awaited follow-up to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later explores how the zombies have evolved after 28 years wreaking havoc on what's left of Great Britain. This includes a variant known as the Alphas, who have grown into massive, hulking, violent creatures beyond even the original terrifying rage virus infectees. Lewis-Parry plays what he calls the "King of the Infected," an Alpha called Samson. Like the other Alphas, Samson lost any use for clothes years ago and spends the film in the buff. And the film does not shy away from unleashing that full-frontal nudity on screen. — (@) During a recent conversation with Variety, Lewis-Parry dug into some of the specifics of those sequences. Namely, the conversation acknowledged the necessity for prosthetics to be used for the benefit of one of 28 Years Later's young stars, Alfie Williams. "There's a law that states, I think, because he's a child, you're allowed to have nudity but it has to be fake nudity," the actor said. "It was to protect him. And, as well, I'm really friendly and am always hugging people. I wouldn't have been doing that if I was fully in the nip!" Of course, even if prosthetics are in play, anytime there's full-frontal male nudity in movies or TV, people still end up curious and clamoring for details of a more personal nature. So when the interviewer asked how Lewis-Parry's prosthetic measures up to the real thing, the former MMA fighter had a cheeky answer ready to go. "Well, I'm 6′ 8″," he replied. "I'll say no more!" This article originally appeared on Pride: '28 Years Later' star Chi Lewis-Parry spills the deets on his massive zombie pole 28 Years Later - Wikipedia Oh my! Cooper Koch used his real trouser monster in 'Monsters' nude scene Luca Guadagnino's 'Queer' delivered on the full frontals, but did the actors use prosthetics? 11 actors who wore a prosthetic pole in their sexiest scenes
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Zombie dogs, martial arts and a meet-cute: Resident Evil has it all
In 2009, actor Milla Jovovich married director Paul WS Anderson. Longtime partners and creative collaborators, the two met on the set of 2002's Resident Evil, an adaptation of the Japanese video game franchise which pushed the limits of the PlayStation in the 90s. Starring the former and written and directed by the latter, the production – which would inaugurate a six-film, billion-dollar franchise – was not without its hiccups. The story goes that Jovovich, unhappy with script revisions which palmed her action scenes off to her co-stars, threatened to walk. But instead of leaving, she and Anderson spent hours amending the script: the genesis of a fruitful partnership, both professional and personal. Most significantly, the rewrites returned to Jovovich's character – the amnesiac Alice – the film's defining scene, in which she runs up a wall, spins, jumps, and kicks a zombie dog square in the face. The games that provide the source material were light on action and heavy on dread; they ostensibly ushered in the nascent medium's 'survival horror' genre. Less concerned with generic fidelity than sensory thrills, the film ports the games' universe into the nu-metal action cycle of the early 2000s (see: The One, xXx), a period brimming with tactile, tacky pleasures – chief among them hard rock and martial arts. Onscreen, the wall-jump dog kick plays out in graceful slow motion with a guitar lick, a yell, and the shatter of glass. Arriving at the halfway mark, it's a turning point: with a single blow, Alice begins to regain both her memory and corporeal ability. From here on, it's her film. Like the games, the adaptation is set in a world under the purview of the Umbrella Corporation, a multinational conglomerate with their grubby mitts on everything from healthcare to military technology. When a hazardous viral material is let loose within one of their secret subterranean research facilities known as The Hive, the site goes into lockdown. You might've guessed what happens next: all the staff turn into zombies. Alice's relation to these events is initially unclear. She awakens, dazed, in an empty mansion. Before she can gather her wits, she's swiftly ushered by a military clean-up crew, descending into a subterranean facility full of cold concrete and faceless steel to aid the investigation. Less post-apocalyptic sprawl than claustrophobic pressure cooker, the proceedings are decidedly intimate. It's all smoke and corridors. As the crew progress deeper into the labyrinthine facility, Alice regains further fragments of her memory. Flashbacks offer an echo of her identity: an insider feeding information to environmental activists in the hopes of exposing Umbrella's illegal experiments. Like all great sci-fi, Resident Evil possesses a healthy scepticism of corporations and a distinctly anti-capitalist subtext. The film's zombies aren't mindless consumers a la Romero or hyperactive runners in the vein of 28 Days Later, but reanimated workers, cursed to roam the halls of their place of employment in the afterlife. In the image of Aliens, the franchise places proficient women at the forefront of the action. Alice is adept and adaptable. At her side is the resilient special ops agent Rain (Michelle Rodriguez), a battler who staves off infection seemingly to grunt choice quips. 'When I get outta here, I think I'm gonna get laid,' she jests, despite being bitten any number of times. All this, of course, made for humble beginnings for a long and loving marriage. Anderson is affectionately referred to in fan circles as the medium's pre-eminent 'wife guy'. Peruse his filmography and you'll film after film in which Jovovich plays lead and bestows balletic blows in slow motion, her body suspended in the camera's loving eye. It's one of action cinema's great pleasures. Resident Evil is streaming on Stan in Australia and available to rent in the UK and US. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Viewers divided over hit new film 28 Years Later's ‘bananas' ending
WARNING: 28 YEARS SPOILERS AHEAD. Danny Boyle's long-awaited return to the 28 Days Late r franchise, 28 Years Later, is getting rave reviews since its release last week – but the film's final minutes are leaving viewers divided, fiercely debating whether it's a genius or a terrible end to an otherwise powerful film. The third film in the series, 28 Years is set – as the name would suggest – 28 years after a 'rage virus' swept England, turning everyone in its path into murderous zombies. The film tells the story of Spike (Alfie Williams), as he joins his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) on his first trip from their small island home to the mainland, where he'll start practising his skills dispatching the undead. It's a tense, gory, and at times heart-stopping journey, with some spectacular sequences, including a night time chase as an 'Alpha' zombie tails them all the way back to their fortified island, the pair narrowly escaping a grisly death. The film takes a sharp turn in its final act to something altogether more contemplative, as Spike ventures to the mainland again, this time with his ailing mother Isla (Jodie Comer), seeking the help of a doctor who's somehow managed to survive out there for all these years (he's played by Ralph Fiennes in a standout role). But – and here are those spoilers for the very end of 28 Years Later – after what feels like a natural end point to the film, it takes another sharp turn for one final scenes. Young Spike has decided he still has some growing up to do, and returns once more to the mainland to camp, hunt and live off the land alone. He's cornered by a bunch of zombies when suddenly, out of nowhere, a whole new gang of (uninfected) people turn up and the film's tone drastically changes. The gang is run by 'Sir Jimmy Crystal' (Jack O'Connell), dressed in a lairy tracksuit, his hair dyed blonde, and dripping in jewels. His disciples are all dressed in similar uniforms. It's a marked contrast to everyone we've seen so far in the film – from the mostly-naked zombies, their clothes having rotted away, to the inhabitants of the island, all dressed like medieval peasants. The gang tell Spike to stand back so they can expertly kill off the approaching zombies – which they do with moves that are part Power Rangers, part Monkey Magic (seriously, they spend more time doing backflips and karate chops than actually killing). The film ends there, with the suggestion that Spike will now fall in with Sir Jimmy and his gang, grateful for their protection. But it doesn't really feel like Spike's actually found safety, given that everyone in the group, who called themselves 'the Jimmys,' have marked resemblance to Jimmy Savile, a beloved children's TV presenter who was exposed as perhaps one of Britain's most prolific predatory sex offenders after his death in 2011. That tonally bizarre final two minutes drew puzzled laughter in my screening of the film last week (among them, surely many who didn't make the Savile connection) – and it's proved extremely divisive among viewers. First – who are the Jimmys? It appears this wasn't clear to everyone who saw the film, but the key to Sir Jimmy's identity lies in 28 Years Later' s opening scene. It's set back in 2002, as the outbreak first sweeps Britain. A group of children sit huddled in a living room, Teletubbies on the TV, as their parents fret on the other side of the door about the looming threat of the infected. Suddenly, a zombie breaks into the home and horror sweeps the house, as parents and children quickly succumb to the virus. One young boy manages to escape and flees to a nearby church, where he takes shelter as the priest is descended on by the infected horde. That young boy is 'Sir Jimmy Crystal,' 28 years earlier. Viewers have suggested this opening scene not only revealed his identity, but gives a reason for the bizarre look and demeanour of Sir Jimmy and his gang. If life and culture as you know it stopped in 2002 when you were a small child, but you managed to survive, wouldn't you fight zombies like a Power Ranger? More disturbingly – would you dress you and your gang like Jimmy Savile, still then a beloved children's entertainer, a decade before he was posthumously hit with multiple allegations of sexual offences? Viewers divided 'The ending of #28YearsLater is so hilariously f**king weird, you guys. I'm legit at a loss for words. So, so weird,' tweeted one viewer. Another called the final two minutes of the film 'one of the most insane tonal shifts,' while others called it 'bananas.' 'Absolutely dug the f**k out of the bonkers ending. I know it may be divisive for some but I am SOOOOOO here for it!' shared one fan. Others were less thrilled at the gang of Jimmy Savile Power Rangers saving the day. 'Danny Boyle what the f**k,' was one viewer's succint verdict. Another called the final scene 'disappointing', while others questioned if the reference would fly over most viewers' heads: 'I didn't expect to watch 28 Years Later & having to research about Jimmy Savile, who I'm assuming the vast majority of non-British viewers have no idea who the hell the man is or what he represents … Such a bananas manner of ending your movie,' tweeted one viewer. Will there be a sequel? I at least understood the ending a little better once I left the cinema, Googled the movie and realised that it was in fact a set-up for another film in the franchise – one that's coming very soon. 28 Years Later was shot back-to-back with its sequel, The Bone Temple, which is set to be released on 16 January 2026. The film will focus on Spike and Sir Jimmy, and will also return OG star Cillian Murphy to the franchise, reprising his role as Jim (yes, another Jim) from the original film.
