Netflix Buries 2025's “Ferocious” $151 Million Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Reboot

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Jodie Comer accepts her fate in 28 Years Later

Published Mar 15, 2026, 10:20 AM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Netflix has greatly reduced the number of titles that it puts behind a paywall since it launched an ad-supported tier in 2022. The number of restricted titles has decreased from around 5% four years ago to less than 2% this month. This happens mainly because the streamer doesn't have the rights to monetize certain shows and films with ads. The majority of restricted titles come from the Sony stable; Netflix has a first-run deal with the studio, but it can't platform any Sony title on its ad-supported tier. This means that dozens of Sony movies are inaccessible to a segment of the Netflix subscriber base. Among the 140 titles that the streamer has restricted in March is one of the most acclaimed genre movies of 2025.

The film served as a franchise reboot of sorts, and reunited Alex Garland and Danny Boyle — the writer-director dream team behind several cult classics such as Sunshine and 28 Days Later. The film did solid box office business, grossing more than $150 million worldwide. But it didn't break out quite like the studio would have wanted. This raised concerns about the film's immediate sequel, which had already been shot and dated for release a few months later. Nonetheless, Sony was bullish about the sequel, screening it well in advance for critics, basking in the positive early reception, and even green-lighting the rumored third installment. However, the sequel performed poorly at the box office despite receiving widespread acclaim. The status of its follow-up remains uncertain.

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The Widely Acclaimed Horror-Thriller That Every Netflix Subscriber Can't Watch

We're talking, of course, about 28 Years Later, which was released in 2025 to positive reviews and modest box-office success. It now holds a "Certified Fresh" 88% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "28 Years Later taps into contemporary anxieties with the ferocious urgency of someone infected with Rage Virus, delivering a haunting and visceral thrill ride that defies expectations." The movie follows a young boy's coming of age in a zombie-infested hellscape. It starred newcomer Alfie Williams alongside Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. This year's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was directed by Nia DaCosta. It earned an even higher 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but couldn't recoup its reported budget of $63 million.

28 Years Later has been restricted for subscribers to Netflix's ad-supported tier this month, according to What's On Netflix. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.