Our goal was to launch 28 Years Later and catch audience interest like a global contagion. We aimed to reintroduce the franchise to longtime fans while drawing in a new generation, bringing the broadest possible audience to theaters. By pairing pedigree with immersive elements from print to digital to merch - and everything in between - we turned the cult horror classic franchise into a cultural juggernaut.
It began with a cryptic teaser that revealed the trailer date sparking online speculation. Per Deadline, “not only was [this] the most watched horror trailer in 2024 at 60.2M global views, but it [was] also the second biggest trailer of all-time...” Rudyard Kipling’s BOOTS became the campaign’s anthem, threading through trailers, fan art, and creator content. The audio drove over 90K uses on TikTok.
From there, the campaign extended out with wild postings and physical barricades across major cities. Press scaled the mythos with an exclusive Empire Magazine first-look with insights from director Danny Boyle. These led to our next tentpole: a 28-hour 3D teaser that revealed RageLeaks.net via Morse code - a password protected ARG site. The teaser drove 5M views. Our new trailer then dropped a pigpen cipher that revealed the password MementoMori. Once into RageLeaks.net, fans found leaked intelligence from the quarantined UK on the inworld site, expanding the film's lore each week.
Adding to the noise, director Danny Boyle and cast spent a day with creators and cinephiles, blending digital storytelling with auteur credibility. The creators activated social audiences, generating over 100M views across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Boyle’s involvement continued with a Reddit AMA and viral coverage of his 20-iPhone rig.
To connect legacy fans and fuel anticipation, we staged a one-night-only return of 28 Days Later with Screenrant, 28 days ahead of the new film’s release. Ticket sales for 28 Years Later launched that night.
Fan hype was further amplified with a first-of-its-kind streetwear collection released on TikTok Shop, extended through Instagram Shop, affiliate creators, livestreams, and an official merch site.
One of our biggest challenges was navigating the 20+ year gap between films — ensuring the return felt culturally urgent rather than nostalgic — while balancing legacy tone with modern platform behavior in an oversaturated horror market. By layering cryptography, physical stunts, immersive digital storytelling, creator participation, and social commerce, we transformed the release into a participatory global event. By opening weekend, 28 Years Later had become more than a film, it was a global event. Across every channel, we layered mystery in the messaging and pushed audiences to dig deeper. With 500M global TikTok views in its first weekend, and a legacy elevated from cult horror to cultural juggernaut, this wasn’t a comeback. It was an outbreak.
The fully integrated campaign for 28 Years Later transformed a cult classic into a prestige cinematic event, earning over $150M globally, 2.7B+ campaign views across digital and social, and a 95% Certified Fresh score on opening weekend. It was also Letterboxd’s Most Anticipated Movie of 2025.
