Box Office: ’28 Years Later’ Debuts to $5.8 Million, ‘Elio’ Flies to $3 Million in Thursday Previews

Sony’s zombie adventure, “28 Days Later,” showed a strong pulse in Thursday previews, earning an impressive $5.8 million, while Pixar’s “Elio” debuted to a more modest $3 million. The delta between those results is understandable given that “Elio” appeals to families who don’t normally rush out to see movies on a week night.

Heading into the weekend, “28 Days Later” was projected to open to $28 million to $30 million, which would be the best debut ever for a film in the undead series. “Elio” is expected to gross between $25 million to $30 million in its first weekend.

Neither movie is expected to top the box office. Instead, that honor will likely go to Universal’s live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” remake in North America. The film ruled over the box office last weekend with $84.6 million and should retain the No. 1 spot with $40 million to $43 million in its second weekend, which would be a roughly 50% decline. “How to Train Your Dragon” is a shaping up to be a nice hit for the studio, having made more than $200 million in its first full week.

“Elio” follows a pre-teen boy who connects with a group of eccentric aliens after getting mistaken for Earth’s intergalactic ambassador. The film cost $150 million to produce, which doesn’t include the tens of millions of dollars Disney spent to market it to audiences around the world. Pixar scored last year’s biggest hit with “Inside Out 2,” but it has lost some of its commercial consistency with other recent efforts like “Lightyear” and “Elemental” struggling at the box office. It’s unclear where “Elio” will land in that spectrum of success.

“28 Years Later” follows a group of survivors of a society-ending virus who have quarantined on an island but return to the mainland to discover that a new mutation is threatening to kill off what remains of the population, or at least finish turning them into zombified hordes. “28 Years Later” is intended to kick off a new trilogy, spearheaded by Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, the creators of the original “28 Days Later.” Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, and Ralph Fiennes star in “28 Years Later,” which critics largely embraced.

The new film was shot back-to-back with its sequel, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which will debut in 2026. A third film is in development, but its future may hinge on the box office results of “28 Years Later.”