Six new movies – including sequels, retellings of old stories and new tales from old franchises – as well as four television series, all prequels or new seasons, suggest there is comfort in the familiar. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Release date: 16 January) The fourth film in the post-apocalyptic horror franchise follows closely on the third, 28 Years Later, which was released in June to critical acclaim and commercial success. The series started with 28 Days Later (2002), followed by 28 Weeks Later (2007), and is set in a UK infected by the rage virus, which turns people into superfast, aggressive zombies.
Unlike the first two films, 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple were shot back to back and the story continues directly from one to the other, so it’s best to watch 28 Years Later first. Director Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) takes over from Danny Boyle, but the script for both films was written by acclaimed sci-fi writer Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation). Ralph Fiennes returns as Dr Ian Kelson, a former GP who created the Bone Temple of the title as a memorial built from the remains of those killed by the rage virus.
After encountering an “alpha”, a zombie that’s more intelligent and stronger than the rest, Kelson makes a scientific breakthrough that could have far-reaching consequences. Saltburn director Emerald Fennell’s new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s beloved classic novel is already drawing controversy. Adapted dozens of times for the big screen over the years, Wuthering Heights is an iconic Gothic romance set in the 19th century on the bleak Yorkshire moors, about the tumultuous relationship between Catherine (Barbie star Margot Robbie), daughter of a wealthy landowner, and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi, from Frankenstein), a mysterious orphan brought by her father to live with them.
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Since the release of the trailer, complaints have ranged from Robbie being too old to play teenage Catherine and the whitewashing of Heathcliff (who is described as a “dark-skinned gipsy” in the book) to the modern pop soundtrack by Charli XCX and overtly erotic, stylised scenes that don’t come from the source material. But with the title being in quote marks and the font reminiscent of the mass-market bodice-ripper paperbacks of the 1980s, the trailer seems to signal that this will not be a purist’s adaptation, but rather an impressionistic version influenced as much by the original novel as all the pop culture references that have built up around it. If you’ve seen Saltburn (2023) or her first film, Promising Young Woman (2020), you’ll know that Fennell likes to shock and take big, provocative swings that often veer into bad taste, and her version of Wuthering Heights should be no different. Whether you end up loving or hating it, this will be one of the most talked-about films of 2026.
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