Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later is now in theaters. When will horror thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Jodi Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson be available to watch at home?
Rated R, 28 Years Later opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The summary for the film reads, "It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway.
"When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers the secrets, wonders and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well."
The first stop for 28 Years Later in the home entertainment marketplace will be on digital streaming via premium video on demand. Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is the studio behind 28 Years Later, typically waits for one month to six weeks after opening its films in theaters to make them available on PVOD.
A recent example of Sony's digital streaming release pattern is the studio's horror thriller Until Dawn, which debuted on PVOD on May 23, less than a month after it opened in theaters on April 25. However, the Marvel comic book movie Venom: The Last Dance, debuted on PVOD on Dec. 10, 2024, about six weeks after it opened in theaters on Oct. 25.
If 28 Weeks Later follows the same release pattern as the two titles above, then viewers can expect the film to arrive on PVOD anytime between July 22 and Aug. 5, since new films on PVOD generally come out on Tuesdays.
New films on PVOD are typically available for digital purchase for anywhere between $19.99 and $29.99 or rented for 48 hours for anywhere from $14.99 to $24.99. Typically, new PVOD titles are available on a variety of platforms, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube.
Since Sony Pictures Entertainment has a deal with the platform to exhibit its films first on streaming video on demand, 28 Years Later will make its SVOD debut on Netflix.
It generally takes three to four months from the time a Sony film opens in theaters to the time it arrives on Netflix. Recently, the horror thriller Heart Eyes arrived on Netflix on May 8, just over a month after it opened in theaters on Feb. 7.
Venom: The Last Dance, however, arrived on Netflix on Feb. 25, exactly four months after it debuted in theaters on Oct. 25, 2024.
If 28 Years Later follows the same pattern, then viewers can expect the film to arrive on Netflix between Sept. 19 and Oct. 24, give or take a few days. While some streaming services like Max generally release new films on its platform on Fridays, Netflix doesn't tend to rely on a specific day of the week to begin streaming new films.