28 Days Later (franchise)

28 Days/Weeks Later DVD box set

28 Days Later is a British post-apocalyptic horror franchise which consists of two films, a graphic novel, and a comic book series. It revolves around the survivors of a fictional, bloodborne disease called Rage after the disease has decimated Great Britain.

The original film was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, and was a critical and commercial success. Following the film's success, a 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, was made; like the previous film, it also garnered generally positive reaction from critics, and was a box office hit. 28 Days Later also spawned a graphic novel called 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, which explained the origins of the Rage virus and expanded on the timeline of the outbreak, and a 2009 comic book series of the same name, which continued the story of, and explained the backstory of, Selena, one of the main characters of the first film.

Story

Two Cambridge University scientists named Clive and Warren were hired by an unknown company to develop an anger inhibitor that could end domestic and urban rage worldwide. At first, they experimented on volunteers from the university, but as Cambridge University students obviously didn't have uncontrollable rage, Warren decided it was a waste of time.

Warren was able to get a contact at a police station and secure a violent criminal to test the inhibitor on. However, the injections of the inhibitor were too diluted, so Warren increased the dosage. The criminal broke free and attacked Clive and Warren, forcing Warren to kill him. Warren then decided that they should test the inhibitor on chimpanzees, as Clive had been suggesting all along. While Clive and Warren were burying the criminal at dawn, Clive sneezed, giving Warren an idea. They had decided that delivering widespread with a pill or an aerosol wouldn't do, so Warren decided to use the Ebola Virus as a delivery system.

Using this new delivery system, Clive and Warren exposed several chimpanzees to the inhibitor. However, some of the Ebola genomes that Clive and Warren had attempted to isolate reacted to the inhibitor, and the contagion and inhibitor mutated into the Rage Virus. Clive was so disgusted by this that he quit, and informed the Animal Freedom Front of the experimentation on chimps before shooting himself. Clive survived this suicide attempt and was taken to hospital, but was left comatose (28 Days Later: The Aftermath). At around the same time, a bicycle courier in London, named Jim, was hit by a car while delivering a package to Shaftsbury Avenue, and taken to hospital, where he slipped into a coma (28 Days Later).

Three members of the AFF then arrived at the Cambridge Primate Research Centre, where the infected chimps were being kept, to free them. A scientist tried to warn the activists about the Infection, but they didn't listen, and released one of the chimps. The chimp attacked and infected one of the activists, before another activist killed it. The infected activist then infected the other activists and the scientist (28 Days Later). Another chimp was then able to escape, and infect Warren when the latter came to investigate (28 Days Later: The Aftermath).

At around this time, Tammy and Andy Harris were sent by their parents, Don and Alice Harris, to Spain on a school trip (28 Weeks Later).

The Infected were then able to escape into Cambridge and began spreading the Infection. The media initially thought of the Infected's rampage as rioting, but as it was happening in small towns and villages around Cambridge, this was discredited (28 Days Later). During this time, the day after the Rage Virus first broke out in Cambridge, an infected chimp from the Primate Research Facility attacked and infected a boy called Liam in Cherry Hinton Hall while Liam and his family were having a picnic there. When Sid, Liam's brother, and their father, Roger, saw this, the two brutally beat the chimp to death, while three nearby paramedics tended to the infected Liam.

As Cambridge was suffering major backup due to the effects of the Rage Virus, the paramedics decided to take the infected Liam to a hospital in London, with Liam's family following. However, on the way to the hospital, Liam broke free and infected two of the paramedics, who then killed the other paramedic. Liam's family, meanwhile, were forced to flee, and hid in an old house from the rapidly spreading Infection. (28 Days Later: The Aftermath)

By Day 8, the Rage Virus became an epidemic, and chaos erupted as infection was confirmed throughout mainland Britain. The Prime Minister declared a state of emergency and martial law was imposed, although this did little to slow the spread of the Infection (28 Days Later: The Aftermath). Basic services began to fail throughout London and presumably the rest of Britain. It was also presumably during this time that Jim's parents committed suicide via drug overdose (28 Days Later). Approximately one or two days later, Sid, Sophie, Roger and Barbara arrived at King's Cross Station, trying to escape the country, only to find the station being completely overrun by the virus. (28 Days Later: The Aftermath)

Fourteen or less days after the Rage Virus broke out in Cambridge, Sid, Sophie, Roger and Barbara entered Central London to find Parliament abandoned and the military blockades overrun by the Infected. While Sid and Sophie escaped up the Thames, Roger and Barbara sacrificed themselves and stayed behind on the London Bridge to stop the Infected from following Sid and Sophie (28 Days Later: The Aftermath). At around the same time, the comatose Clive was taken to a military camp (28 Days Later: The Aftermath), and Don and Alice Harris arrived at Geoff and Sally’s farm outside of London. Geoff and Sally took Don and Alice in, along with Jacob and Karen. They also took in Sam, who left and abandoned them at around this time (28 Weeks Later).

On Day 15, the government tried to evacuate as many citizens as they could (including Mrs. Baker (28 Days Later: The Aftermath)) before the government collapsed and Britain was quarantined by NATO and the UN. During the attempted evacuation, Mark and his family, along with 20,000 other people, arrived at Paddington Station, hoping to escape the country on a train from there. However, the Rage Virus began to spread quickly through the crowd, infecting or killing many of the people, save Mark (28 Days Later). UN refugee camps were opened in Europe, and the UK was patrolled by several European militaries and air forces (28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, 28 Days Later: The Aftermath). Some time after this, Sid and Sophie arrived at the same quarantine camp where Clive was (28 Days Later: The Aftermath).

At around the same time, London was overrun by the Infected, and most of the uninfected survivors fled the city (except for Hugh Baker, Mark and Selena, who stayed behind to fight and try and kill as many Infected in the city as possible) (28 Days Later, 28 Days Later: The Aftermath). During around this time, Sandford was attacked by the Infection and overrun, except for a Refugee Boy who escaped to Geoff and Sally’s farm, followed by the infected villagers. The Infected then attacked and broke into the cottage, infecting Geoff, Sally, Jacob, Karen and the boy while Don abandoned Alice and escaped the infected hordes downriver. Alice, meanwhile, was bitten and, due to a natural immunity, became an asymptomatic carrier of the Rage Virus. Alice returned to her and Don’s old London home, while Don arrived at a quarantine camp, where he remained (28 Weeks Later).

Around three days after Britain was quarantined, the military blockades surrounding Manchester were attacked and overwhelmed by the Infected, who then overran the city, causing fire storms which, without any fire crews to stop the blaze, engulfed the entire city. The fires drove the Infected out of the city, but this also left the surrounding countryside infested with the Infected that had escaped the blaze. Major Henry West and eight other surviving soldiers under his command escaped to Worsley House (a mansion in the woods outside of Manchester) and fortified it against attacks by the Infected with landmines. When West found Private Jones with a gun in his mouth, he promised his men that any female survivors they found would be forced into sexual servitude (28 Days Later).

Twenty days after the Infection first broke out in Cambridge, the decimated survivors resorted to fighting the Infected, which further decreased their numbers. By this point, tens of millions were either dead or infected. Another eight days later, the United Kingdom had been fully destroyed by the Rage Virus, and no organized society or civilization remained in mainland Britain. On this day, Jim awoke from his coma, and wandered a desolate London, shocked at the sight of what had happened while he was in a coma. Eventually, as night closed in, Jim entered a church and accidentally alerted several Infected inside, who chased him through London. Mark and Selena arrived and killed the Infected with cocktails, then took Jim to their hideout in the London Underground.

There, the two explained what had happened while Jim was comatose, and the next day, Jim, Mark and Selena travelled across London to Jim’s home to find his parents, but only found their rotting corpses in the bedroom. They spent the night at the house, but Jim accidentally attracted the infected Bridges and his daughter. Mark and Selena killed the two Infected, but not before Mark was bitten and infected, forcing Selena to kill him. Jim and Selena then left and returned to the Isle of Dogs, where they noticed lights flashing in Frank and Hannah’s apartment. They reached the apartment, pursued by two Infected, where they were greeted and taken in by Frank and Hannah. The next day, as resources were dwindling, they followed a broadcast sent by West from Worsley House and travelled to the 42nd blockade outside of Manchester.

After a day, Jim, Hannah, Frank and Selena reached the abandoned blockade, where Frank was infected by blood from a soldier’s corpse and gunned down by West’s men, who then took the remaining three to Worsley House, where West warmly welcomed them. The following night, after the soldiers fended off an attack by the Infected, one of them, Corporal Mitchell, tried to force himself on Selena. West then confessed to Jim that he had promised Hannah and Selena to his men. Jim, Hannah and Selena tried to escape with Sergeant Farrell’s help, but were stopped by the other soldiers, and Jim and Farrell were chained up in the cellar to be executed the next morning. There, Farrell theorized correctly to Jim that the Rage Virus had been confined to Britain, and that the rest of the world was continuing on as normal (28 Days Later).

On around the same night, back in London, Hugh Baker met another survivor, who was rogue and hostile, and declared war on him over control of the ruins of London. Hugh was able to defeat the Hunter by dropping perfume on him, which attracted a large horde of Infected that tore the Hunter to shreds. Moments later, three American jets patrolling the British airspace flew by overhead. Hugh, in his confusion over what he was seeing, shot at them, and was thus captured by US military personnel (28 Days Later: The Aftermath).

The next day, back at Worsley House, Jones and Mitchell took Jim and Farrell out into the woods to be executed, and while Jones killed Farrell, Jim escaped into the woods. Back at the house, the soldiers forced Hannah and Selena to wear red dresses, when Jim sounded the blockade siren. West and Davis went to the blockade to find Jim and turn off the siren before it attracted any Infected. Jim was able to kill Davis and sabotage the jeep West and Davis arrived in, then returned to Worsley House as dusk approached. There, Jim freed Mailer (an infected soldier that West was keeping chained up in the courtyard for observation) and allowed Mailer to rampage through the mansion, infecting Clifton. Jim entered the mansion, killing Jones, one of the soldiers, with a bayonet, and going off to find Hannah and Selena. Meanwhile, Hannah, Mitchell and Selena were able to avoid the infected Mailer and Clifton while the two Infected killed the rest of the soldiers one by one.

Hannah separated from Selena and Mitchell, and Mitchell locked himself and Selena in a room from the Infected. Temporarily safe from the danger, Mitchell prepared to rape Selena, causing Jim, who was observing the scene from the attic, to jump down and brutally beat Mitchell to death. Selena, thinking Jim was infected due to what he had just done, prepared to kill him with her machete. When she hesitated, Jim noted this, and the two kissed. They then reunited with Hannah and fled from the mansion into the grounds, to Frank’s taxi, where West was waiting. Enraged over the deaths of his men, West shot Jim, prompting Hannah to drive the taxi backwards into the pursuing Mailer, who proceeded to drag West from the back of the taxi, into the mansion and maul him to death. A wounded Jim, Hannah and Selena then escaped the overrun Worsley House in the taxi.

Hannah and Selena took a dying Jim to an abandoned hospital, where Selena was able to revive him. The three then went to a remote cottage in the countryside (28 Days Later). Meanwhile, over the next few weeks, the Infected throughout the country gradually became weaker and weaker from starvation. (28 Days Later, 28 Days Later: The Aftermath)

Around nine – eleven days after the escape from Worsley House, Clive awoke from his coma, and Hugh was taken to the quarantine camp where Clive, Sid and Sophie were. After trying violently to escape the camp, Hugh was put into isolation. Sid noticed the commotion and upon seeing Hugh, he recognized him from London. Meanwhile, Clive tried to tell Sophie, who was looking after him, how he had helped develop the Rage Virus, but decided against it, and simply told her what he knew about the virus.

The next night, Sid, Sophie, Hugh and Clive, believing they were not safe in the camp, devised a plan to escape. Impersonating some of the camp’s guards, they escaped into the woods, but Sid and Hugh were gunned down and killed. Once Clive and Sophie were temporarily safe from the pursuing military, Clive confessed to Sophie how he was directly involved in the development of the Rage Virus. Sophie, upon realizing that Clive was responsible for all the death and suffering the Rage Virus had caused, kissed him, then shot him in the head. Sophie stood over Clive’s corpse as a military helicopter gunned her down and killed her (28 Days Later: The Aftermath).

Twenty-eight days after Jim, Hannah and Selena escaped Worsley House, the Infected had become so weak from starvation that they were now immobile. As shown in the film, on that day, Selena sowed five large letters to spell “Hello”, and the three placed them outside in the field for the European and American air forces patrolling British air space to see. A Finnish jet saw the message and ordered a rescue helicopter to be sent to pick up the three survivors (28 Days Later).

About three days later (five weeks after the original outbreak), the Infected finally died of starvation, and thus the Rage Virus all but died out. Another six weeks after that, a NATO force led by the US Army entered London, and, another seven weeks later, they declared Britain free of Infection. Another six weeks later, reconstruction began, and over the next four weeks, the US Army began to repopulate London with refugees and new residents on the Isle of Dogs while the US Army’s forces decontaminated the rest of London. Don Harris was also released from quarantine, and became the caretaker of District 1 (the safe zone on the Isle of Dogs). (28 Weeks Later)

Twenty-eight weeks after the Rage Virus had originally broken out, Tammy and Andy Harris were taken into the green zone (to the frustration of chief medical officer Scarlet Levy, who had not been informed that they were now admitting children), and were reunited with their father, Don. Don took them to live at his apartment, but when they asked him about Alice, their mother, he told them that he saw the Infected kill her when the cottage was attacked thirty weeks earlier, during the original outbreak of Rage. The next day, as Andy feared that he would forget his mother’s face, he and Tammy snuck out of District 1 and to their old London home. However, rooftop sniper Sergeant Doyle noticed the two leave, and alerted helicopter pilot Flynn, his good friend.

At the Harrises’ old house, Tammy and Andy took several belongings, including a photo of Alice and Andy together, when Andy found Alice living in the home’s attic. However, before the children could properly reunite with their mother, armed forces from District 1, including Flynn, arrived and took them back to District 1. While Tammy and Andy were put into isolation, Alice was decontaminated, and while Scarlet was taking a blood sample, she noticed a bite wound on Alice’s arm (which she presumably received from an Infected during the attack on the cottage, and presumably the one through which she became a carrier of the Rage Virus). Don came to the isolation cell to pick up Tammy and Andy, who were furious at him for lying to them about their mother’s fate.

That night, Scarlet examined a blood sample of Alice, and when she realized from it that she was a carrier of the Rage Virus, Stone ordered that Alice be killed to prevent a Second Outbreak of the Infection. Meanwhile, Don made an unauthorized visit to Alice, and apologized to her for abandoning her. Though Alice forgave Don, the two then kissed, and Don was infected with the Rage Virus by Alice’s saliva. After brutally beating Alice to death, the infected Don went on a rampage in District 1, infecting or killing everyone he came across. Stone and his men arrived to kill Alice, but found her already killed by Don, and a path of blood and death left in Don’s wake. Realizing that the Rage Virus was back, Stone executed Code Red. When the Infection, which was rapidly spreading through District 1, reached the isolation cell where Tammy and Andy were, Scarlet arrived to rescue them while the US Army moved civilians into safe rooms.

Andy was separated from Tammy and Scarlet and locked in a safe room along with a panicked crowd of other civilians. After a while, the infected Don broke into the safe room and began to infect the trapped crowds. As the Infection rapidly spread among the crowds, Andy escaped into an air shaft and the crowds, both infected and not infected, broke out of the safe room and escaped the building. Rooftop snipers were first ordered to shoot and kill only Infected, but as the Rage Virus spread among the remaining uninfected civilians, and it became harder to tell civilians from Infected, the snipers were ordered to shoot everyone. This forced Tammy and Scarlet to take shelter in a warehouse with dozens of other survivors.

Meanwhile, Doyle tried to comply with the Code Red order at first, but became unable to bring himself to kill the uninfected civilians. So after Andy emerged into the chaotic streets and reached the safety of the warehouse, Doyle abandoned his post and headed down to the warehouse. There, Andy reunited with Tammy and Scarlet, and the three, along with Sam and two other civilians, decided to try and escape with Doyle. The two unnamed survivors were killed by a rooftop sniper, but Tammy, Andy, Sam, Scarlet and Doyle were able to escape into the dilapidated ruins of London. Seconds later, the Air Cavalry arrived and firebombed all of District 1, killing all of the civilians and Infected that were still there. However, a large number of Infected, including Don, were able to avoid and survive that firebombing, and also escaped into the wastelands of Britain, re-spreading the virus.

As dawn came, Doyle, Tammy, Andy, Scarlet and Sam reached Regent's Park and waited to be rescued by Flynn. Flynn arrived at the park in his helicopter, but a large horde of the surviving Infected also arrived at the park, and attacked. Doyle tried to explain Tammy and Andy’s importance to Flynn, in that they may have their mother’s immunity to the Infection, but Flynn, Tammy, Doyle, Scarlet and Andy were all forced by the attacking Infected to flee the park. Flynn went to Wembley Stadium to rendezvous with Doyle there, while the four took shelter in an abandoned van from the Infected and chemical gas being pumped into the city by the US Army. After the gas had killed the attacking Infected, Doyle pushed the van to get it going, and was subsequently killed by soldiers’ flamethrowers.

Shortly after, an air attack by the US Army forced Scarlet and the kids to flee into the London Underground, where Scarlet was attacked and killed by Don, and Tammy and Andy separated. Don came across Andy, and attacked and bit him before Tammy shot and killed the infected Don. Andy, meanwhile, became a Carrier of the Rage Virus like his mother, having inherited Alice’s immunity to the Infection.

Tammy and Andy then exited the Underground and made their way to Wembley Stadium, where Flynn reluctantly took them in his helicopter across the English Channel, into France. For reasons unknown, the helicopter crashed. Within the next twenty-eight days, the Rage Virus surfaced in Paris, having most likely spread to mainland Europe through Andy. (28 Weeks Later)

Future

In March, 2007, Danny Boyle, the director of the first film, announced that he planned to create a third film in the series, called 28 Months Later with a 2013 release date. Boyle stated that he planned to set the movie in Russia. It was also announced in June 2007 that if DVD sales of 28 Weeks Later did well enough, Fox Atomic would consider producing a third film.

Boyle revealed in July 2007, while promoting Sunshine, that he has a story formulating for the next film. "There is an idea for the next one, something which would move [the story] on. I've got to think about it, whether it's right or not." Boyle also revealed that he would return as the director.