There’s no discharge in a war, and no iPhone charger, either. On Danny Boyles’s goofy and moving 28 YEARS LATER for @ringer https://t.co/9PXaLeaBvm
— Adam Nayman (@brofromanother) June 20, 2025
The box office saw mixed results this weekend as the zombie thriller “28 Years Later” opened strong while Pixar’s original animated film “Elio” faced a historic low debut. “28 Years Later,” directed by Danny Boyle, chomped its way to a $14 million opening day across Friday and preview screenings. The film is now projected to open north of $30 million, slightly ahead of expectations for the $60 million production.
28 YEARS LATER absolutely rips. It’s a surprising twisty bit of heartfelt genre storytelling.
My review via @ebertvoices. https://t.co/XuU5xYwsAr
— Robert Daniels (@812filmreviews) June 19, 2025
Sony won the project in a bidding war, attracted by the reunion of Boyle and writer Alex Garland, who previously collaborated on 2002’s “28 Days Later.”
Audiences gave “28 Years Later” a “B” CinemaScore grade, not stellar but typical for horror films.
With #28YearsLater out now, it seemed a good time to revisit the films that started it all 🧟
Watch the full Honest Trailer here: https://t.co/8DIySSdn29 pic.twitter.com/4hIUUxf7Nk
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) June 21, 2025
A sequel, “The Bone Temple,” has already been filmed for release in January 2026, with a third entry pending, based on the performance of this film. On the other hand, Pixar’s “Elio” earned just $9 million on Friday from 3,750 locations.
My interview with Danny Boyle – an irrepressible optimist who's just made a zombie horror film about a quarantined ruined Britainhttps://t.co/ooVEK5HAex
— Xan Brooks (@XanBrooks) June 20, 2025
The film is now projected to post Pixar’s lowest domestic debut ever at around $22 million, well behind the $29 million start of 2023’s “Elemental.” “Elio” received strong reviews and an “A” CinemaScore, but faces an uphill climb after this disappointing start for the $150 million production. Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” held onto the top spot in its second weekend, adding $10.8 million on Friday.
Zombie thriller opens to solid start
The film is projected to drop 58% to $35.7 million for the weekend, potentially pushing its 10-day domestic total to $160 million. Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” remake placed fourth with $3 million on Friday in its fifth weekend. The film should add around $10 million for the weekend, increasing its domestic haul to $387 million.
This would rank it as the 55th highest-grossing domestic release of all time. Rounding out the top five, Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” posted another strong hold, projecting a 33% drop to $7.1 million in its fifth weekend. The Tom Cruise sequel is pacing ahead of its 2023 predecessor and is expected to finish the weekend with a $178.9 million domestic total.
In a limited release, Magenta Light Studios’ Rebel Wilson comedy “Bride Hard” is expected to struggle to reach $1 million from 1,165 locations, despite poor reviews and a “B-” CinemaScore. The box office now looks ahead to the July 4th holiday frame and the anticipated dominance of Universal’s “Jurassic World: Rebirth.
