28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Weeks Later is a 2007 post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, horror film. It is also a sequel to 28 Days Later. The film was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and was released in the United Kingdom and in the United States on May 11, 2007.

Set 28 weeks after the initial outbreak of the Rage virus from 28 Days Later. The film focus on England rebuilding society with the help of the U.S. military. Like the first film the sequel focuses on a small group banning together to survive, but unlike the original, the sequel is more action packed and has bigger set pieces.

Plot
Don and his wife Alice are living alongside a group of survivors in a heavily reinforced cottage somewhere in Rage-infected Britain. They are eating a meal when a young boy is heard outside shouting and banging on the house. Against his better judgment, Don opens the door to let in the frightened child, who had escaped a horde of infected. The infected soon discover the hideout and break their way in, overwhelming the group quickly. Don is separated from his wife who was trying to rescue the child and instead of returning to help flees in terror down to a small river where a boat is waiting, Don narrowly escapes the infected and continues down river.

28 Weeks Later...
Over the course of 28 weeks, Britain is declared relatively safe again and an American NATO force begins repopulating the country, amongst them being Doyle, a wisecracking sniper; Flynn, a helicopter pilot and family man; and Scarlett, an army medical officer who is weary of two children, Tammy and her younger brother, Andy, who have just arrived by plane with other British expatriates. Scarlett is frustrated to learn that her superiors did not inform her when minors will be living in the militarized zone of London, and when she does a checkup on Andy she notices that he has heterochromia (having two different-colored irises), a trait he inherited from his mother.

Andy and Tammy are moved into District 1, a fully-functional section of London proper, located in the Docklands area known as the Isle of Dogs. They are reunited with their father, who turns out to be Don from the beginning of the film, now head caretaker of the district. At their new penthouse apartment, Don recounts his escape to a quarantine camp and the apparent fate of their mother, while leaving out certain details making it seem that he could do nothing about it. The next day, the two children slip out of the safety zone and return home to collect some personal affects, where they discover their mother, Alice, is very much alive. Andy and Tammy are soon recaptured, and Alice is processed. A blood test reveals that she is infected but immune to the virus, suggesting that her genes repel the Rage virus' symptoms, but makes her a carrier, as evidenced by her bloodshot eyes. This puzzles Scarlett who then tries to argue the fact that they may be able to create a cure for the virus through her blood.

Don learns about his wife and visits his children, who are being detained. He then makes his way to where his wife is being held (with the use of his all-access key card) and unguarded. Don cries and begs his wife for forgiveness. He then kisses her, but the Rage in Alice's saliva infects Don through the kiss. After killing Alice in his viral rage, Don breaks into District 1, attacking soldiers and infecting the population. A code red is ordered, and Scarlett rescues Tammy and Andy from containment due to their importance of perhaps carrying their mother's immunity to the virus. The group flees together as chaos spreads to the open streets. Doyle and the soldiers are first issued an order to take out as many of the infected as possible, then after the chaos spreads out of control, the soldiers are ordered to take out any living being. Doyle leaves his position and escapes with Scarlett and the children, dodging harm as District 1 is incinerated by napalm.

Stopping at the abandoned remains of Regent's Park, Scarlett informs Doyle that the key to curing infection may be in the children, and they agree that the children's lives are more valuable than their own. Flynn arrives by helicopter to pick up Doyle, but is quite adamant about taking no one else. A large horde of infected which survived the firebombing arrive and give chase, forcing the group to flee. Flynn then flies away, assigning Wembley Stadium as the new rendezvous point.

The group enters a car to escape the infected and the clouds of poisonous gas venting into the city, but the car itself can not start. Doyle gets out to jump start the engine upon seeing approaching soldiers with flamethrowers. As the car finally drives away he is set aflame by the flamethrowers, sacrificing his life. To evade a pursuing attack chopper, Scarlett drives into the London Underground system, after which she and the children continue on foot, using the night vision scope on Doyle's gun for guidance. The trio get separated in the darkness, and as Scarlett attempts to find Andy and Tammy, she is disarmed and beaten to death by the infected Don, who then goes and bites his own son. Tammy is forced to kill her father with Doyle's rifle.

Though bitten, Andy remains symptom-free like his mother, and has the same symptomatic bloodshot eye. The children continue through to Wembley Stadium, and are picked up by a reluctant Flynn, who flies them across the English Channel and out of Britain.

28 days later...
The remains of the helicopter are seen, while someone is calling for help in French over the helicopter's radio. It is unclear whether Flynn, Tammy and Andy survived. However, in the last scene, a large group of infected are seen running through a subway tunnel, through the Palais de Chaillot towards the Eiffel Tower, revealing that the Rage virus has spread to mainland Europe.

Timeline
During the film's opening credits, a time table for the spread of infection is given:
 * 15 Days Later: Mainland Britain is quarantined.
 * 28 Days Later: Mainland Britain has been destroyed by the Rage virus.
 * 5 Weeks Later: The infected have died of starvation.
 * 11 Weeks Later: An American-Led NATO force enters London.
 * 18 Weeks Later: Mainland Britain is declared free of infection.
 * 24 Weeks Later: Reconstruction begins.
 * 28 Weeks Later: [The events of the film begin; no text is displayed.]

Critical Reception
The film has, like its predecessor, garnered much praise for the way that it successfully continued the story without becoming just a carbon copy of its predecessor. USA Today's Claudia Puig called it "A smart and deeply unsettling film." while New York Times A.O. Scott said, "It is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying, as any respectable zombie movie should be. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques."

The film has gandered a rating of 71% on the popular film review site rottentomatoes. To date (as of July 25, 2007) it has received 115 "fresh" ratings and only 47 "rotten" ratings with an average rating of 6.6/10.

Reviewers have commented on parallels between the film's plot and the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq and the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.

Awards

 * Scream 2007
 * Winner: Best Horror Movie
 * Nominated: Ultimate Scream
 * Nominated: Best Sequel
 * Nominated: "Jump-From-Your-Seat" Scene of the Year (Zombies Attack Glass Window)

Production
In 2003, plans for the film were conceived after the enormous international success of 28 Days Later. Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland stated that they felt the time was right to make a sequel.

In March 2005, the director of 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle, said in an interview that he would not direct the sequel due to commitments to the film Sunshine, but he would serve as executive producer. He also revealed that the film would deal with the aftermath from the first movie. It was also revealed that the film would revolve around the "US Army declaring the war against infection had been won, and that the reconstruction of the country could begin". After seeing the 2001 thriller Intacto, Danny Boyle chose to hire Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project. Fresnadillo stated that he was "thrilled working on his first English language film alongside such an exciting international cast and talented production team."

Both Fresnadillo and film director Lopez-Lavigne were involved in the writing process of the script which the story revolved around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film which the producers "liked alot".

Cast

 * Robert Carlyle - Don Harris
 * Rose Byrne - Scarlet
 * Jeremy Renner - Doyle
 * Amanda Walker - Sally
 * Shahid Ahmed - Jacob
 * Harold Perrineau - Flynn
 * Catherine McCormack - Alice Harris
 * Garfield Morgan - Geoff
 * Emily Beecham - Karen
 * Idris Elba - Stone
 * Imogen Poots - Tammy Harris
 * Mackintosh Muggleton - Andy Harris

Filming
On 1 September 2006, principal photography for 28 Weeks Later began in London. Locations used in London include: Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf, Charing Cross, Charing Cross tube station, CityPoint, White Cliffs of Dover, Greenwich Foot Tunnel, Hyde Park, Millennium Stadium, Parliament Square, Shaftesbury Avenue, Therapia Road, and Three Mills Island Studios. The film's final scene was filmed on Palais de Chaillot in Paris.

The film was filmed on 35mm film and concluded late November 2006. Scenes involving Andy and Tammy running away from District 1 were filmed early in the morning.

Trivia

 * Extensive filming of a "US Army Camp / Base" took place during the weekend of 21/22 October 2006 in the courtyard outside the Citypoint Building, Ropemaker Street, London EC2. A large number of tents with US flags, cast in military dress and vehicles were in place. Additionally access to the sub-floor car park area appears to have been given to shoot an underground scene.
 * Danny Boyle directed some of the second unit filming.
 * Robert Carlyle had turned down a part in 28 Days Later... (2002).
 * The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff doubled for the interior of Wembley Stadium because, at the time of filming, the interior of the newly built Wembley was still under construction.
 * As the snipers are shooting down the infected early in the movie, one of them shouts "This is FUBAR!" FUBAR is an acronym that stands for 'F***ed Up Beyond All Repair'.

Goofs

 * Factual errors: The shot of the Boeing 737 aircraft approaching the runway is at London City Airport. This aircraft is not certified to fly into this airport as the approach path is too steep for the 737.
 * Factual errors: The M4 used by Doyle when he is on the street level appears to have a PVS14 night sight mounted behind an EOTech holosight. However when the camera shot shows the view through the scope the cross-hair shape is not that of what would have actually been displayed using this sight combination.
 * Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During one scene, General Stone says that the Infection does not "cross species." However, the original outbreak began when humans came in contact with infected chimps. This is arguably because the US Army probably did not know the origin of the virus, and what General Stone said was based on the Army's observation after arriving in Britain.
 * Continuity: As a result of inconsistent computer editing, throughout the film, the logos on top of the HSBC and Citigroup buildings vary from being nonexistent to clearly visible.
 * Revealing mistakes: About half way into the movie: As the "infected" charge down the dark tunnel frantically because they are so full of rage, as they start to run down the stairs they all slow down, take small steps and grab the side rails to avoid falling.
 * Continuity: In the scene where the girl is in the pizza shop a window above the Greek Cuisine shop is open then shut in different shots.
 * Errors in geography: When the aircraft containing repatriated people approaches London, it is flying on to Runway 28 at London City Airport (LCY). When the passengers get off the aircraft they are at Stansted Airport and in the terminal buildings.
 * Errors in geography: The route the survivors look around London and the distances involved would not be possible in the time frame as shown in the film.
 * Continuity: In the scene when they are driving in the car to escape the toxic gas, the windshield is covered in blood, though in the next scene it is gone, then it reappears in the next shot.
 * Factual errors: If gas was used to exterminate the infected it would need to be lethal. Presumably this would be a nerve agent and would be colourless. At the very least the use of cloth over the mouth would do nothing at all to stop it. The soldiers moving in the gas are in full NBC suits - including gas masks with filters yet the 'heroes' only require their shirts.
 * Continuity: Flynn's helicopter changes multiple times. He is initially shown falling asleep in an Aerospatiale Gazelle. When he is attempting to rescue Doyle, he is flying an Aerospatiale A-Star. When he lands in the stadium to rescue Doyle and the children, he is flying an Aerospatiale Gazelle.
 * Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the children are walking on the football pitch it is in fact at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff although they appear to walk into Wembley stadium and fly out of Wembley stadium in the helicopter.
 * Continuity: When the helicopter is flying towards the cliffs over Dover at the end, all the fields are freshly plowed with short neat grass. Surely these fields would be wildly overgrown by now?
 * Factual errors: Scarlet wears her hair in a ponytail, which is an unauthorized hairstyle for a female soldier in an Army uniform. Females in uniform must wear their hair in a bun of some sort so that it does not hang down below their neckline.
 * Errors in geography: The DLR train carrying the settlers from the airport has "Greenwich" on the front destination, but that station is south of the river from Isle of Dogs and would not have been quarantined. Also that DLR route from airport to Isle of Dogs is open to attack as route is quite long and open to holes in security.
 * Factual errors: A Jubilee line train is seen on the platform at Charing Cross station in the showdown between Don and Scarlet. However, the Jubilee line has not run from Charing Cross since 1999, so access to that platform would be blocked off and it is not likely to have a train on the platform.
 * Factual errors: When Flynn warns Doyle of the impending firebombing of his position, he says that the "Air Cav" are going to be coming in to do the bombing. The film then portrays jets swooping in to drop the bombs. This is incorrect, because the Air Cavalry uses helicopters, not jets. Jets are only used by the Air Force and Navy.
 * Factual errors: The virus is transferred via blood/body fluids, therefore in quarantine everyone especially the doctor should have worn goggles. In the surgery area scenes all they wore were surgical masks.

Box Office

 * Domestic (U.S.): $28,589,387
 * Foreign: $25,557,360
 * Worldwide Total: $54,146,747

Promotion

 * On Friday 13 April 2007, 28 days before the release of the film in UK cinemas, a huge biohazard warning sign was projected against the White Cliffs of Dover. The sign contained the international biological hazard symbol, as well as stating that Britain was "contaminated, keep out!"
 * In July 2006, Fox Atomic Comics and publisher HarperCollins announced that they were publishing a graphic novel titled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath in early 2007 to bridge the gap between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.
 * Removable graffiti was sprayed in locations around London featuring the web address 'ragevirus.com'. However, the web address was found to be unregistered and quickly snapped up by a b3ta reader. The advertising agency who made the mistake agreed to purchase the rights to the domain for an undisclosed but significant sum.
 * In April 2007, Bloody-Disgusting.com promoted the film by giving readers a chance to win a prop from the film. The props were included in a "District 1 Welcome Pack,” which featured an actual ID card and an Evening Standard newspaper with and evacuation headline. The giveaway was only open for North American residents and entries closed on May 9, 2007.

DVD Release
The film will be released on DVD on October 9, 2007 in Region 1 territories. The film will be available in anamorphic widescreen and will include deleted scenes with optional commentary, and theatrical trailers. Other extras will include audio commentary and various featurettes including: Making Of 28 Weeks Later, Make-Up Effects, Getting Into The Action and a 28 Days Later: The Aftermath Flash-Animated Graphic Novel.

The Film will also be release in the U.K. on September 10, 2007 and will be exactly the same release as the region 1 albeit with different cover art.

Soundtrack
No soundtrack has been released in the U.S. with no planned release however the track listings are as followed (All John Murphy unless otherwise noted)


 * 1) "28 Theme" 3:57
 * 2) "Welcome to Britain" 2:25
 * 3) "Helicopter Chase" 1:41
 * 4) "Fire-bombing London" 2:38
 * 5) "Theme 7" 1:53
 * 6) "Walk to Regents Park" 2:54
 * 7) "Kiss of Death" 2:53
 * 8) "Don Abandons Alice" 2:59
 * 9) "London Deserted" 2:24
 * 10) "Go Go Go!" 2:10
 * 11) "Theme 2" 2:33
 * 12) "Knock Knock - Cottage Attack" 2:30
 * 13) "Night Watch" 1:56
 * 14) "Code Red" 2:29
 * 15) "Going Home" 2:38
 * 16) "Tammy Kills Her Dad" 2:20
 * 17) "Crowd Breaks Out" 1:48
 * 18) "Outbreak" 3:06
 * 19) "Leaving England" 2:36
 * 20) "Theme 3 (End Credits)" 2:38

Future Sequels
In March 2007, Danny Boyle was interviewed by an Irish radio station, where he claimed to be interested in making a third film in the series, 28 Months Later. However, it is still unknown if this third chapter will be made.