A rather phenomenal trailer for ‘28 Years Later’ was released on Tuesday. It marks the return of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland working together and Boyle returning to the director’s chair after a six-year gap. The trailer does exactly what it’s supposed to: inspire intrigue about the story without giving much away, with a haunting undercut of actor Taylor Holmes reciting Rudyard Kipling’s 1903 poem, “Boots.” If humility lives on, so does the rage virus. Before June 20th, 2025, I naturally wanted to see if I could watch the first two films as a refresher. It’s been about 23 years since the brilliant “28 Days Later” came out, and it has been a long time since I’ve seen it.
So, I searched for what streaming service it was on and came up empty-handed. All of these choices and the first film in the franchise is nowhere to be found. “28 Weeks Later” is on Hulu and available for rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and Google Play. However, its predecessor is nowhere to be found, seemingly Thanos-snapped from the (legal) digital world. If you want a physical copy, you are out of luck. The film has been out of print for a while. Your best bet is to buy a secondhand DVD or Blu-ray, but sellers have taken notice of how rare these copies are. EBay listings range from $46 to $214 ($10 off with a coupon code). For the sake of legalities, I’m not going to say the other ways to watch this film (they are out there), but I’m speaking of the frustration of going through hoops to even get to that point.
RELATED PIECES:
Sony will work something out where the film will end up on Netflix sometime next year. I have no doubt that will happen, given the interest. But now more than ever, we have realized that digital technology is not the infinite time capsule of cultural history we all thought it would be–primarily when entities with little interest in preservation control licenses to properties. Countless titles have been removed from HBO Max and Disney + in the past few years, never to be seen again. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve listened to an album on Spotify or Apple Music and a song will be greyed out or missing entirely. As an obscure example, the original version of Limp Bizkit’s “Getcha Groove On” of 2001’s “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water” is unavailable on streaming. This is probably due to a sample rights issue, but the “Dirt Road” version of their “New Old Songs” 2001 remix album is the primary version. Some probably have no idea the original version of the song exists.
Given the many price increases through these digital services (hi, YouTube!) and others to come in the name of giving subscribers “high-quality series and films,” perhaps making archives more readily available is also necessary. Studios are electing to invest more in prequels, sequels, requels, revivals – pretty much any time of “quel.” There has to be an entry point for new fans to easily get caught up to speed and for the old ones to get reaquainted. Until then, let’s all go sign up on the Sony website and wait for the digital gods to make “28 Days Later” avaliable for the masses and perhaps invest in a good shelf or hard drive.
Main Photo Credit: Sony Pictures
