28 Days Later is finally available again – in HD; is a 4K release even possible?

The trailer for Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later has absolutely blown up since it was released a few weeks ago. It’s quickly become the most anticipated movie of 2025 for many horror fans, with a sequel also set for a January 2026 release. However, until recently, Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later has been unavailable for streaming and has been out of print on Blu-ray due to rights issues. Why? It’s because Sony, who is distributing the sequels, acquired the rights to the original film, which was first distributed by Fox Searchlight (now owned by Disney), and had it pulled (although the sequel – 28 Weeks Later – which Disney owns outright – is still available). Now, with the 28 Years Later trailer reinvigorating interest in the franchise, Sony has finally re-released the original film to streaming services like iTunes, albeit in a basic HD transfer, which might surprise fans who’ve been anticipating a 4K re-release. However, there’s a good reason why this upgrade may never happen. 

28 Days Later (2003) was shot with primitive digital tech:

Recently, Arrow Video is re-released Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy on Blu-ray, but only Desperado will be in 4K. Many wondered why Once Upon a Time in Mexico wasn’t getting a 4K release. The simple fact is, but virtue of being shot digitally, with 2003-era cameras, the movie’s maximum resolution is 1080p. 28 Days Later is in a similar boat. It was one of the first films to be shot digitally. Indeed, the camera it was shot on, the Cannon XL-1, has a standard definition resolution of 720×576. That’s why the movie looks pretty much the same on DVD as on Blu-ray, as you’re just watching an upconversion. As for a 4K release, the fact is 28 Days Later is never going to look as good as some horror fans might expect. It was shot to look a certain way. But I do feel that Sony, with Boyle and Alex Garland and the original DP Anthony Dod Mantle, might be working on a restoration to improve how the film looks on digital media. Granted, this is pure speculation, but technology has come a long way, and there’s the potential for a restoration of 28 Days Later to look significantly different once it comes out. George Lucas shot Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith digitally, but they look outstanding in 4K (although it certainly took some serious work).

Does director Danny Boyle want to maintain the original look?

Here’s the thing – these movies that were shot in early digital video have been problematic in their transfer to 1080p, never mind 4K. For their release of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled on Blu-ray, Criterion was able to tweak the movie’s look in a way that was faithful to the original version but still made it look better than it ever did on DVD before. Sony could use some magic to make 28 Days Later look significantly different than it ever has before, but should they?

It could look different… but should it?

Given how the movie’s look compliments its tone, perhaps they’ll put out two versions, one restored and one unrestored. If anything happens to the film it will likely be with Danny Boyle’s full approval. While the original version of the film is now streaming, it also seems likely to get some kind of upgrade before 28 Years Later hits screens this summer, with it still unavailable on physical media.

However, consider what’s happening with the new James Cameron 4K transfers for Aliens, True Lies and The Abyss. Some fans don’t like how different the films look on 4K and that’s nothing compared to what a 28 Days Later upgrade would look like. At what point does it go beyond restoration and become revisionist filmmaking?

Do you think they should tweak the way 28 Days Later looks? Or should they just leave well enough alone? Let us know in the comments.

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