Danny Boyle used an iPhone 15 to shoot ’28 Years Later’
It’s been confirmed that esteemed British filmmaker Danny Boyle has shot his upcoming movie, 28 Years Later, on an iPhone 15.
The movie began filming earlier this year on May 7th, 2024, in Northumberland, England. Shortly after Boyle and the film crew arrived in the North East, a casting call was sent out as they sought out background actors to appear in the project, which alerted paparazzi to the filming locations. However, despite some information leaking, the story for 28 Years Later has been kept firmly under wraps.
The movie is the third in the franchise, following 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. For 28 Years Later, the budget has been increased seismically compared to the last two films. In total, it boasts a $75million kitty, which is a figure more than triple the cost of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later combined.
Nevertheless, despite the financial freedom the production team have been handed with such a significant budget, they still opted to shoot 28 Years Later on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Several individuals involved with the movie have confirmed this to be true to Wired.
Notably, 28 Days Later was shot on the high-end camcorder, Canon XL-1, and the choice to film 28 Years Later on an iPhone 15 Pro Max aligns with the history of the franchise, which has constantly moved with new technology. While many films have previously been shot on an iPhone, 28 Years Later is the most high-budget by a considerable margin.
News of Boyle’s choice of camera for 28 Years Later comes shortly after R&B star The Weeknd released the video for his new single, ‘Dancing In The Flames’, which was shot entirely on an iPhone 16 Pro.
Previously, director Steven Soderbergh filmed both Unsane and High Flying Bird on iPhones, with the movies released in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Explaining his decision, Soderbergh said of filming High Flying Bird to the Hollywood Reporter: “It was shot in February and March of 2018, in three weeks. It’s a very small crew and the gear that’s available to enhance this already pretty extraordinary capture-device made it even better. So, if I had to do it in a more traditional way, it would have actually hurt the film.”
Is Cillian Murphy returning for ’28 Years Later’?
In May, it was confirmed by Sony boss Tom Rothman that Cillian Murphy would be reprising his role as Jim, but he remained tight-lipped on the size of his role. Rothman maintained it would occur “in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.”
Leading the cast is Jodie Comer, best known for performances in Killing Eve and The Bikeriders. The Liverpudlian actor will be joined in 28 Years Later by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell. Although, at this stage, the characters that each of these stars will portray remain undisclosed.
If everything goes according to plan, 28 Years Later will be coming to cinemas on June 20th, 2025, making it one of the most-anticipated movies of the summer season.
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