‘The Bone Temple’ Crumbles as ’28 Years Later’ Sequel Loses Out to ‘Avatar 3’ in Tight Box Office Race

The Bone Temple continues on from last year’s hit, 28 Years Later, which itself picked up the story from 28 Weeks Later and original movie, 28 Days Later, which starred Cillian Murphy in one of his breakout roles in 2002. A dark and disturbing vision of belief and survival in the most brutal of circumstances, the arrival of The Bone Temple just seven months after the release of its predecessor has suggested that maybe audiences are not up for another round of Rage Virus horrors so soon.

January and February are always tricky months for new movie releases, and The Bone Temple‘s position among the low-key releases seemed to be strange considering the popularity of 28 Years Later last summer. Despite impressive preview numbers, the weekend will see The Bone Temple‘s foundations being shaken with a $13 million weekend, or $15 million over the extended Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. This is substantially short of the $20 million-plus figure expected from the film’s domestic weekend, and half the $30 million haul of 28 Years Later last June. The worldwide gross is expected to end at around $31.1 million, half the film’s $63 million budget.

The Bone Temple sees Nia Da Costa taking over directorial duties from Danny Boyle, and Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Alfie Williams reprising their roles from the previous movie. Also in the mix is the return of Cillian Murphy, whose role in the film is expected to be expanded if the concluding movie in this new trilogy is green-lit.

‘The Bone Temple’s Failure Has Been Unexpected

The Bone Temple’s reviews have been impressive, with very few having anything negative to say about the film. This has even seen its audience’s score on Rotten Tomatoes jumping to 94%, which is above all the previous movies in the franchise, but the lackluster performance at the box office has allowed Avatar: Fire and Ash to retain its hold on the chart for another weekend.

It is certainly not the outcome that many predicted, especially with the latest Avatar movie taking only $300,000 more than its challenger over the three-day weekend, and a total of $17.2 million expected by Monday. If The Bone Temple had performed as expected, then it would have easily claimed the number one spot. Instead, it is in second position, with Zootopia 2, The Housemaid, and Marty Supreme completing the domestic top five.

Although 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple were pretty much filmed back to back, it is now unclear what is next for the franchise. Boyle and Garland came into the new 28…Later projects with the distinct vision of it being a trilogy. Whether that will now happen is yet to be decided. The positive reviews and word of mouth surrounding The Bone Temple could be enough to build its box office over time, but the financial struggles of the first month of the year could also mean that many people are happier to wait until the film hits home media in the near future.