28 Weeks Later
Short description
Six months after a rage virus swept through Britain and left the country emptied of life, the United States military declares the infection defeated and begins bringing survivors back to a secured district of London. Among the returning civilians are two children, Andy and Tammy, whose father Don has been given a role in running the settlement. When the siblings slip out of the guarded zone to reach their old home, they find their mother Alice alive among the dead, apparently carrying the virus without showing its effects. Her discovery raises hopes of a cure, but an unforeseen incident unleashes the infection again and turns the rebuilt city into a battlefield.
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directed and co-wrote the film with Enrique López Lavigne and Rowan Joffe, following his debut Intacto. Robert Carlyle plays Don Harris, with Rose Byrne as the military doctor Scarlet, Jeremy Renner as Sergeant Doyle, Harold Perrineau as Flynn, Catherine McCormack as Alice and Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy. A sequel to 28 Days Later, it was made for 15 million USD and earned 65 million USD worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from 360,000 votes, on TMDB 6.6/10 from 5,867 votes, and critics gave 6.6/10 from 200 reviews, placing audience and critical response at a similar level.
What's left behind the scenes
- Danny Boyle relinquished directing duties in favor of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, remaining on the project as an executive producer. Nevertheless, he directed several scenes for the film.
- The scenes at Wembley Stadium were filmed at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, as construction work at Wembley was not completed at the time of filming.
- In the first draft of the script, the children are named Danny and Tamsin, but in the final version, their names were changed to Andy and Tammy.
- Filming of the deserted London scenes was done between 4 and 5 a.m. to minimize disruption to city residents.
- Danny Boyle turned down directing, remaining on the project as an executive producer. Nevertheless, he filmed several scenes for the film.
- The now-famous final shot was added to the film at the very last moment. The script ended with a shot of a helicopter in a parking lot, and it was assumed that this would be the end of the film. Two days before the film was scheduled to be delivered to 'Fox Searchlight', director and screenwriter Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, screenwriter and producer Enrique López Lavigne, and co-producer Bernard Belleau flew to Paris and shot the scene that ultimately ended the film. It was conceived by Fresnadillo and Lavigne, and was filmed with only one camera in the presence of three crew members and with the participation of twelve local actors hired on the spot. The sound was urgently mixed in London, and the scene was inserted into the film's finale.
- All the night scenes of the heroes' journey through London were filmed during the day using a new method devised by the film’s cinematographer, Enrique Chediak. Night scenes were shot during the day for three reasons. First, Macintosh Muggleton, who played Andy, could only film during the day. Second, the plot stipulated that a complete shutdown and power outage had occurred in London. In reality, if filming had actually taken place in London at night, achieving a complete blackout would have been impossible, and 'removing' all the light from the frame later would have been incredibly difficult. Filming during the day, on the other hand, meant that some light would remain in windows, but it was easier to remove, and when the daytime footage was transformed into night footage on film, everything in the frame darkens evenly, creating the impression of complete darkness. And third, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was always a fervent admirer of transforming daytime images into nighttime on film, believing that it would only add to the overall atmosphere of anxiety and fear.
- Robert Carlyle turned down an offer to play a role in "28 Days Later" (2002), but agreed to appear in the sequel.
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