Danny Boyle Revealing ’28 Years Later’ Was Shot on an iPhone 15 is the Promotion Apple Needs With its Stocks Looking Scarier Than the Apocalypse

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s horror franchise, which is finally on its path to complete the trilogy, has finished filming 28 Years Later recently. This past summer, the duo was busy with the shoot, which has concluded, and things are looking good for what is about to come. Although plans for this third installment have been ongoing for years, nothing was concrete for a long time. But thankfully, fans of this franchise are finally getting a third part to make way for a horror trilogy.

Cillian Murphy in 28 Days Later | Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

After 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, it took years before a third installment was put to work. The first movie was a pretty big hit, earning $84.7 million from an $8 million budget. This led to a second movie, although neither Boyle nor Garland were a part of it. The movie did well financially but received a lukewarm critical response. Now, both Boyle and Garland have returned for the third installment, and things are looking to be pretty exciting.

28 Years Later Has Finished Filming, That Too On an iPhone

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland went their own ways after the critical and commercial success of 28 Days Later. It took some time, almost 5 years, before the sequel was ready to be put out on the screen for audiences. And it is almost another decade in between the second and the third installment of the franchise. But finally, things are looking good as the writer-directed duo has returned to finish the trilogy.

A still from 28 Days Later | Credit: 20th Century Fox / Fox Atomic

And according to WIRED, most of the movie was not shot on movie cameras, but an iPhone. Apparently, the movie was partially filmed with “a bunch of adapted iPhone 15s,” specifically the iPhone 15 Pro Max. They also added that:

The Hollywood thriller, with its budget of $75 million, [is] the biggest movie to date filmed with smartphones.

With Apple having just launched the iPhone 16, this looks like a pretty positive marketing strategy. Whether intentional or not, 28 Years Later being filmed on a smartphone is a pretty major achievement for the company.

28 Years Later Was a Mix-n-Match of Filming Techniques

28 Years Later has a pretty solid lineup. Apart from Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, lead star Cillian Murphy, high off his Oscar win for Oppenheimer, is also returning after the first movie of the trilogy. And alongside him, we have quite a few other names that invoke awe and admiration in equal measure.

Alongside Murphy, we also have Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes in the cast list, and that is looking to be quite the lineup. But apart from the star cast, it is the cameras that were used to film this movie that is making the noise. According to WIRED:

A still from 28 Days Later | Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Principal filming for 28 Years Later wrapped at the end of August, and until now the production has kept under wraps the fact that the movie was shot with smartphones, with the staff being asked to sign NDAs, preventing the disclosure of this detail.

They further added:

In addition to using the iPhone 15 Pro Max as the principal camera, some scenes in 28 Years Later were shot with action cams strapped to farm animals.

With Apple currently going through a slump, even with the launch of iPhone 16, things aren’t looking too green for the company. The stocks are pretty low for the time being, but this new information could prove to be beneficial for Apple as well as the upcoming movie. Whether it really does end up making a difference or not is a story for another day.

28 Years Later is set to be released on June 20, 2025.