It’s been an up-and-down year for sci-fi movies so far in 2026. The year officially began with Gerard Butler’s Greenland 2: Migration, the sequel to the 2020 disaster film, but leaning into sci-fi the second time around didn’t save Greenland 2 from being a massive bomb at the box office. Following only a few weeks after Greenland 2 was Mercy, the Amazon MGM-distributed AI sci-fi thriller starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. The film also struggled under the weight of its $60 million budget, though it’s doing its utmost to redeem itself as one of the most popular movies in the world on Prime Video. Netflix subscribers also marveled at the release of Alan Ritchson’s War Machine, which is being hailed as the perfect mash-up of Predator and Edge of Tomorrow. It’s already the streamer’s biggest movie of 2026.
The most bizarre sci-fi movie to release this year, and frankly one of the strangest entries the genre has ever seen, is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Make no mistake, though, this unique take on the sci-fi horror genre may have been a risk, but it’s paid off. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which is a direct sequel to the 2025 sci-fi film, 28 Years Later, earned strong marks of 92% from critics and 89% from audiences on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. The film recently premiered on Netflix in America, and although it has struggled to reach the top spot due to the premiere of Anaconda (starring Jack Black), it has quietly become one of Netflix’s most popular movies. Both movies are legacy sequels to the 2002 horror cult classic, 28 Days Later.
Find Out if You’re a Wizard of Oz Whiz — The Yellow Brick Collider Movie Quiz! ](/movie-quiz-apr-3-2026-wizard-of-oz/)
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A third 28 Years Later film was officially confirmed to be in development in December 2025, one month before Bone Temple hit theaters. When the franchise was first announced in 2024 as coming back with more movies, Alex Garland revealed that there was a plan for a trilogy. The first two films were shot back-to-back, so they were always going to be released, but the third film is still uncertain. 28 Years Later grossed $151 million against a $60 million budget, making it a financial success, but The Bone Temple grossed only $58 million against a $63 million budget, making it a massive flop. Even with the prior announcement, Sony is likely still deciding whether to foot the bill for a third and final movie, given there is no guarantee of financial success. The return of Cillian Murphy’s Jim has everyone hoping that the third movie makes it to the big screen.
Check out both 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on Netflix and stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates and coverage of the franchise.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ](/tag/movie/28-years-later-the-bone-temple/)
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Science Fiction
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Andrew Macdonald, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, Peter Rice