28 Years Laterhas passed a major milestone that few 2025 horror movies have. The movie, which was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, is the third installment in the post-apocalyptic horror franchise that kicked off with28 Days Laterin 2002.
2025’s28 Years Latertakes place in a Britain that has been ravaged by the Rage virus for the better part of three decades and follows the adventures of Spike (Alfie Williams), a 12-year-old boy who grew up on the fortified island of Lindisfarne.The cast also includes Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Edvin Ryding, and Jack O’Connell.
PerDeadline, as of Saturday morning,28 Years Lateris projected to close out its fourth weekend at the domestic box office with a 3-day total of $2.7 million. This is set topush its cumulative domestic gross to a total of $65.7 million.
In addition to being the 15th 2025 release to pass the $65 million domestic milestone, it is onlythe third 2025 horror movie to have done so, behindFinal Destination Bloodlines($137.8 million) andSinners($278.5 million), the latter of which is the third highest-grossing domestic movie of the year at the time of writing.
What This Means For 28 Years Later
It Still Needs To Climb A Bit More
28 Years Laterhas already broken a variety of records. After earning the best opening weekend of the franchise,it went on to become the highest-grossing installmentboth in domestic theaters (beating28 Days Later’s domestic record of $45.1 million) and worldwide.
However, it seemsunlikely to pass eitherFinal Destination BloodlinesorSinnersby the end of its run. While that may be the case, its domestic total is more than double the next highest-grossing 2025 horror movie of the year, which isHeart Eyes($30.4 million domestic).
Below, see a breakdown of the 10 highest-grossing domestic horror movies of 2025:
#1
$278.5 million
#2
$137.8 million
#3
$65.7 million
#4
$30.4 million
#5
$22.4 million
#6
M3GAN 2.0
$22.3 million
#7
$20.7 million
#8
$20.2 million
#9
$19.3 million
#10
Clown in a Cornfield
$7.2 million
In spite of the movie’s broken records, the reportedbudget of28 Years Lateris $60 million in and of itself. While its exact break-even point is unknown, movies often have to earn back two and a half times their budgets to turn a profit in theaters, whichcould place its estimated break-even point as high as $150 million.
The new movie could be set to hit that milestone, asit had grossed nearly $130 million worldwide as of Friday. However, it might not clear that total by a very wide margin in theaters, so its success will likely have to be cemented by its VOD performance and streaming revenue.
Our Take On The 28 Years Later Milestone
The Franchise’s Future Depends On The Fourth Movie
While the 2025 horror movie is performing decently well, the true test of the franchise’s box office strength will be theupcoming28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which debuts on June 11, 2025. The two movies aremeant to be the start of aYearstrilogy, but the third installment has not yet been funded.
However, once28 Years Laterlands on VOD and streaming, it should have built up enough of a viewership base that it putsBone Templein a solid position to also turn a tidy profit, though if the next movie is hit by diminishing returns, it may only accomplish this by a narrow margin.
