*Courtesy of Miya Mizuno/Columbia Pictures.*

Sony’s ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ is shaping up to be a solid holiday performer, with early tracking pointing to a $20 million+ four-day opening over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend (domestic).

That would place the British horror sequel—directed by Nia DaCosta, written by Alex Garland, and produced by Danny Boyle—among the select group of just 32 films to clear $20 million across the Friday-to-Monday MLK frame.

MLK Day, which falls on January 19, traditionally marks the final surge of the holiday moviegoing season. While nearly all K–12 schools and most colleges are off that Monday, January attendance typically softens as campuses return from winter break. Sony begins ticket sales for ‘The Bone Temple’ on January 2, with advance presales expected to play a key role in final projections.

The studio has already primed fan enthusiasm with early screenings held December 9 in major U.S. and European markets. Following a standout reaction at AMC Century City, Sony moved ahead on its option for a third ‘28 Years Later’ installment—the fifth film overall in the franchise that began in 2002. Cillian Murphy is in talks to star, Garland is already writing the script, and Boyle has publicly expressed interest in returning to direct.

The momentum builds off the success of ‘28 Years Later,’ which opened to $30 million domestically last summer and finished with $70.4 million in North America and $151.3 million worldwide. The sequel skewed older, with nearly half the audience made up of men over 25, a demo that continues to show strong interest in ‘The Bone Temple.’

Altogether, the franchise has earned close to $300 million worldwide. ‘The Bone Temple’ takes place immediately after ‘28 Years Later,’ set in a divided society where young Spike aligns with Sir Jimmy Crystal’s gang, led by Jack O’Connell, while Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Kelson attempts to contain the lingering infected threat. While Rotten Tomatoes scores have yet to land, early fan and press reactions online have been strongly positive.

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