As it prepares to unleash Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later around the globe later this week, Sony showed off the first 28 minutes of the zombie thriller for exhibitors here at the CineEurope conference in Barcelona.
Boyle introduced the footage via video message, saying this “new journey” is the “start of something big.” The first trailer dropped back in December and is the third most-watched horror trailer ever with 60.2 million views in its first 24 hours, while Deadline reported earlier this month that in the first 24 hours of ticket sales domestically, 28 Years Later became the best horror pre-seller of the year to date.
The second film in the newly revamped trilogy — 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — will hit North American theaters on January 16, 2026.
At the start of Sony’s presentation, Steven O’Dell, President of International Marketing and Distribution, said to the assembled exhibitors, “I hope everyone is sitting here with a lot more confidence about the present and the future vs. the angst we have felt over the last five years… This year is the moment to make our bets and we all have big bets to make. On the movie side, our job is to create compelling content and market the heck out of it, to get people excited to go to a movie. While on the cinema side, it is your challenge to invest in, and modernize, the cinema experience to get people thinking every week about going to the cinema.”
He continued, “When we are both operating at the top of our game, we create a shared experience that is a bedrock of entertainment all around the world.”
Other footage that screened during Sony’s presentation included two scenes from Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing starring Austin Butler, and which releases domestically on August 29 this year. Aronofsky sent a video message from New York where he said he’s in the final stages of editing, and explained he’d wanted to make “a romp, caper, adventure” set in the East Village during a time of “peak humanity,” before 9/11, when “Y2K was the biggest threat.”
Also sending a message was Sam Mendes who mused on his epic four-picture project about The Beatles which he called “in every sense an entirely unique event.” The quartet of movies is due in April 2028.
And, Scarlett Johannson, fresh off the Cannes unveiling of her feature directing debut, Eleanor the Great, sent a video message about the “personal” film, saying “every frame is etched in my DNA.” Sony is releasing internationally and Sony Pictures Classics domestically with a date TBD.
Among other trailers and footage were a sizzle reel for Paul Rudd/Jack Black Christmas release, Anaconda, and a scene and new trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer which releases in July.
There are three big anime movies up ahead which each got a mention, Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle releasing September 12 in North America, followed by Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc which begins rollout on September 24 internationally and goes domestic on October 29, as well as Scarlet, a world-creation story of a brave princess who transcends time and space (U.S. release December 12).
On the local-language front, Sony pointed to upcoming pics such as France’s Forced Vacation, the Sisu sequel from Finland which releases in the U.S. on November 21 and the continuation of Spanish franchise Padre No Hay Mas Que Uno with the 5th installment. Director and star of the latter, Santiago Segura, sent a cheeky message to CineEurope urging the Spanish exhibitors in the audience to applaud so the non-Spaniards would know he is “huge in Spain.”
