Years Later: The Bone Temple carried a reported $63 million production budget, earned $25,147,583 in North America and $58,527,279 worldwide. The Nia DaCosta-directed sequel to 28 Years Later opened theatrically on Jan.
16, 2026. That worldwide total fell short of production cost alone, before marketing. For franchise fans and box-office watchers, the gap explains the debate over a third film.
Table of Contents
- How much did The Bone Temple cost to make?
- How did opening weekend play out?
- What were the domestic and worldwide totals?
- Did theatrical revenue cover the budget?
How much did The Bone Temple cost to make?
The sequel carried a $63 million production budget excluding marketing, according to SHOOTonline via The Associated Press in its weekend report. That made it the franchise's most expensive installment.
The $63 million figure does not include marketing, reported elsewhere up to $70 million, according to FandomWire citing Variety. Break-even generally requires about twice the production budget, so Sony needs later VOD and streaming revenue to narrow the gap.
How did opening weekend play out?
Sony Pictures released the Nia DaCosta-directed, Alex Garland-written sequel on Jan. 16, 2026, according to Business Mirror. It played in 3,506 U.S. theaters with Ralph Fiennes and Jack O'Connell starring.
Bloody Disgusting reported $12.5 million for three days and about $15 million through the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. That was well below $20-$22 million projections. It finished second to Avatar: Fire and Ash at about $17.2 million, according to Business Mirror. It roughly halved predecessor 28 Years Later's $30 million June 2025 opening.
What were the domestic and worldwide totals?
Box Office Mojo records $25,147,583 domestic, about 43% of its total, from a $12,521,327 opening on its title page. Domestic legs added about $12.6 million after opening.
Box Office Mojo places it near No. 2,923 all-time worldwide. It adds $33,379,696 foreign for $58,527,279 worldwide.
- Opening: $12.5 million domestic in three days
- Domestic lifetime: $25.1 million, about 43% of worldwide
- Foreign lifetime: $33.4 million
- Worldwide lifetime: $58.5 million
Did theatrical revenue cover the budget?
MovieWeb put the end-of-run worldwide at just under $58 million against the $63 million budget in its end-of-run report. That means theatrical grosses did not cover production cost.
Predecessor 28 Years Later earned $151 million worldwide. With marketing excluded, FandomWire citing Variety notes break-even is near twice production cost, so Sony needs VOD and Netflix revenue to offset the shortfall. That shortfall clouds plans for a third film.