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    Home»Movies»Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” Was Originally Written as a Trilogy
    "Sunshine," 2007
    "Sunshine," 2007 (Searchlight Pictures)
    Movies

    Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” Was Originally Written as a Trilogy

    Amy DavisBy Amy DavisJune 11, 20254 Mins Read
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    Filmmaker Danny Boyle is on top of the world right now with the upcoming release of his long-gestating follow-up to ā€œ28 Days Later,ā€ ā€œ28 Years Later.ā€ During a recent interview, he dedicated some time to discussing another beloved film, ā€œSunshine.ā€ He revealed that frequent collaborator Alex Garland outlined the movie to be a trilogy.

    "Sunshine," 2007

    ā€œSunshineā€

    ā€œSunshineā€ takes place in 2057 and centers around a team of international astronauts who are sent on a dangerous mission to reignite the dying Sun with a nuclear fission bomb. The 2007 film was one of the main reasons that Boyle did not direct ā€œ28 Weeks Later.ā€ While fans were bummed not to see him back, ā€œSunshineā€ quickly developed its own fan base. 

    But as we all know, audience praise doesn’t always mean ticket sales. ā€œThe movie did no business at all,ā€ Boyle told Collider.Ā 

    ā€œLook, I love the film. I really love the film,ā€ he said. ā€œSome of that film, I just think, “wow, did I do that?” It’s like, yeah you did! My daughter watched it a few years ago. I remember watching it, I was in the kitchen, but I’m watching bits of it, and I’m like, “oh, that’s quite good.” Because you get infected… not to make a punā€¦ā€

    Sadly, an artist loving a piece of work that the general public glossed over is a tale as old as time. ā€œthere are many films I’ve made people don’t think this about — but Sunshine is one they really, genuinely think about and really love the film,ā€ Boyle explained.

    There Could Have Been More “Sunshine“

    ā€œSo, originally, when we were doing it, Alex wrote two other parts. It was supposed to be a trilogy,ā€ Boyle revealed. ā€œYeah. I mean, he only wrote an outline.ā€

    "Sunshine," 2007
    “Sunshine,” 2007 (Searchlight Pictures)

    When pressed for how a sequel could even be possible given the film’s ending, ā€œIt was a planetary trilogy. It was to do with the sun itself, with two other stories. What’s interesting is Alex has a natural instinct as a storyteller to want to tell these expanding stories, and that is why 28 Years Later wound up as a trilogy.ā€

    Boyle refused to give away too much more about where the trilogy would have gone. Partially because it had been so long, and his memory was foggy. But also to allow Alex Garland the freedom to use the idea in another project if need be.  

    ā€œIt’s kind of Elon Musk scale, even though he’s lost a lot of credibility. But it was interplanetary stuff, it had more to do with that,ā€ he said after some probing. ā€œNo, there’s no rich man in it. But the idea of looking outside and moving.ā€

    Screenshot

    ā€œ28 Years Laterā€ & ā€œBone Templeā€

    Of course, Boyle also talked about the upcoming films ā€œ28 Years Laterā€ and ā€œ28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.ā€ The latter is being directed by Nia DaCosta (ā€œCandymanā€) from a script by Garland.

    For clarification, while ā€œ28 Years Laterā€ is the third entry into the franchise, it kicks off a whole new trilogy with a third film planned if the movies mentioned above do well. Because of this, Boyle often refers to DaCosta’s ā€œBone Templeā€ as the ā€œsecond filmā€ when it is technically the 4th in the franchise. 

    ā€œWhat Alex and I decided to do was make an original film. But it’s a story influenced by 28 Days Later. But it does not follow what happened in 28 Weeks Later, where the virus got into Europe,ā€ Boyle explains about his word choice. ā€œFor story reasons, we suggested that Europe had driven the virus back across the channel. Then they could isolate the island of Britain and let it die out.ā€

    "28 Years Later," 2025
    “28 Years Later,” 2025 (Sony Pictures)

    ā€œThere’s a story arc across all three films,ā€ said Boyle about the films. ā€œThe principle of this is what we sold to Sony. And they immediately said, ā€œDon’t say it’s a trilogy.ā€ We said, no, we are going to say it’s a trilogy. Because it is! We’re not going to lie to people! Not all the characters run through all three films, but some of them do. There’s a character in this one, played by Ralph Fiennes, who is a massive part of the second film. Cillian Murphy is an element in the second film and a very dominant element in the third film.ā€

    Given all the hullabaloo over Murphy not being in ā€œ28 Years Later,ā€ Boyle did clarify that the actor will be in ā€œBone Templeā€ ā€œA bit. A bit.ā€

    ā€œ28 Years Laterā€ hits theaters nationwide on June 20th. ā€œ28 Years Later: Bone Templeā€ is slated for a January 16th, 2026 release. 

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    Amy Davis

    Hi, I’m Amy. I like long walks in the graveyard, horror movies, comic books, and bringing you the latest in nerd-centric news.

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