Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that 28 DAYS LATER is not available on VOD platform and the Blu-Ray is currently out of print.
Those who believe in longer windows for exclusive theatrical play can claim major victories with “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “The Whale,” which debuted on PVOD in March after 100- and 60-day theater-only releases, respectively.
And then there’s “Creed III,” which has grossed $149 million in domestic theaters and showed up on PVOD March 31, exactly 28 days after release.
You see, 28 Days Later 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.
That said, should it look different?
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 will likely use some magic to make 28 Days Later look significantly different than it ever has before.