How Streaming Drives Retroactive Interest in Movie Franchises

We recently wrote about how 28 Days Later, the Danny Boyle cult classic from 2002, is now available through streaming. This comes after the trailer for 28 Years Later has amassed 16 million views and counting, sparking renewed interest in the franchise. This is just one example showing how streaming provides a fast, accessible way to drive interest in older entertainment.

Streaming & Online Entertainment

To say streaming has changed the entertainment industry would be an understatement. On-demand video streaming from Netflix and Amazon has changed how we watch TV and normalized presenting giant stashes of content to customers.

These services followed the example set by video-sharing and iGaming sites that formed with the early internet. On those sites, a lot of videos or casino games are stored in giant libraries and distributed online at the user’s convenience. Through those content libraries, users can access digital recreations of games like roulette hosted at https://casino.betfair.com/game/european-roulette-cptn, among other casino games. That even extends to live streams of casino tables, using much of the same distribution methods that power modern streaming services.

The online model of storing and distributing content yields a unique benefit – longevity. You may have heard the adage ‘the internet is forever’. That isn’t necessarily true but, for high-profile content hosted online, it can save certain media for future audiences. Variety reports that the industry calls these “library titles” as seen at https://variety.com/vip/why-library-content-could-drive-future-of-streaming-1235653681/.

Reviving 28 Days Later

28 Days Later was a roaring success when it was first released, making nearly $85 million off of an $8 budget. It also marked an early success for director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) and writer Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Civil War). In retrospect, 28 Days Later was one of the very first shots across the bow of the 2000s zombie revival that later brought us projects like Dawn of the Dead and, by the end of the decade, The Walking Dead.

Most would consider the film a cult classic – a technical success that didn’t leave a huge mark on general audiences. A sequel came and went, without the involvement of Boyle and Garland, but now the original creators are back for a new 2025 sequel – 28 Years Later.

For obvious reasons, the trailer went viral and has seemingly revived a franchise after 17 years of inactivity. Cue a feeding frenzy for the original 28 Days Later, especially once it was confirmed that Cillian Murphy (TV’s Peaky Blinders, Oppenheimer) will be returning for this film and another sequel – https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/bone-temple-28-years-later-sequel-1235212102/.

There’s no prize for guessing what happened next – we have already revealed that 28 Days Later is now available through Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. Through online distribution, there’s a huge audience of people who can now watch the 2002 cult classic for the first time.

Through a modern sequel release, an older “library title” has been given a new life. In fact, it may very well reach more people now than it did on its initial debut. If this old movie wasn’t so accessible through streaming, that might not have been the case. As franchises continue to mature in the age of streaming, we can expect to see similar revivals in the future.