How 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple's Director Feels About It Flopping At The Box Office

Sony Pictures

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It's still relatively early in the year, but it's going to be tough to find a better film that didn't deserve to flop in 2026 than "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple." Rest assured, those who've actually seen the movie largely regard it as a stellar follow-up to last year's "28 Years Later," which was itself the long-awaited sequel to "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later." Unfortunately, though, director Nia DaCosta's film disappointed greatly at the box office. Now, DaCosta has shared her thoughts on the matter.

"28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" misfired at the box office in January, roughly six months after "28 Years Later" became a hit for Sony. For various reasons, much of that movie's audience stayed home for the sequel. Speaking with Empire, DaCosta talked about this directly and took the whole thing in stride. Here's what she had to say about it:

"It's so funny, because literally every barometer we use in the industry to determine whether or not a movie is good, and people like it and want to see it, was through the roof, and yet our box office wasn't there. I made a great film, and I'm really proud of it, and people liked it."

DaCosta added that maybe it was "too soon, because people were like, 'Oh yeah, I saw that last summer!' I'm like, 'No, no, so there's a sequel!'"

Reviewing the movie for /Film, Chris Evangelista wrote that "The Bone Temple" takes the "28" film series "in exciting directions," deeming it a "gruesome sequel." Critics broadly agreed. So, it certainly wasn't a quality issue. As DaCosta noted, the movie had all the makings of a success. It just didn't pan out from a commercial standpoint.

Sony Pictures

The whole thing was unfortunate for several reasons. As a director, Nia DaCosta keeps getting screwed by Hollywood. From Amazon essentially burying her movie "Hedda" to her 2021 "Candyman" sequel coming out while the Covid-19 pandemic was still raging, she keeps getting the short end of the stick despite delivering very good films.

DaCostar's "The Marvels" finished its box office run as the lowest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe movie ever, but that certainly wasn't her fault. Now, once again, her fine work appears to be going unrewarded. Beyond that, there's the matter of the third "28 Years Later" movie, which was moving forward at one point and had Cillian Murphy starring as Jim. Unfortunately, the lackluster financial returns for "The Bone Temple" put that all in doubt.

"The Bone Temple" made just $58.5 million at the box office, failing to even recoup its budget. As such, the next "28 Years Later" film may simply be abandoned at this stage. Even so, DaCosta took all this in stride. As she told Empire, she's just trying to enjoy her career and focus on the things she can control:

"My friend said to me years ago, 'Nia, your career is for you to enjoy,' and I really have been trying to put that into practice and take that to heart over the course of the past few years. And, so, when this came out and it didn't do as well in terms of the money it made, I was disappointed. But I also was like, 'I'm so happy that when people find the film, they're going to enjoy the film.' I wish it made more money, but I'm really proud of it."

You can grab "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" on 4K, Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.