Horror fans are having a tough time finding one of the 21st century’s most iconic movies, branding it “impossible to find” amid sky-high physical media prices and a lack of streaming options.
It’s one of the most frustrating consequences of the streaming service boom: you’re direct debited up the wazoo with subscriptions to Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and other platforms — and when you want to watch something specific, it isn’t available on any of them.
Sometimes, there’s a simple reason. In the simplest terms, films are licensed to specific streamers for limited amounts of time — if it’s not on any of the ones you’re subscribed to, chances are that it’s on another one (and with sod’s law, it’s probably the only one you don’t pay for). However, from time to time, movies vanish from streaming with no clear reason, forcing you to seek it out on DVD or Blu-ray.
In the case of 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle’s 2002 zombie classic and one of the best horror movies of all time, it’s “stupid impossible” to find, according to Reddit.
RecordEnjoyer2013 complained: “As far as you can scroll online, it says unavailable streaming, unavailable renting, unavailable to buy in any non-British format on DVD/Blu-Ray and any other physical media.”
It’s true: not only is 28 Days Later not available on any streaming platform in the US, but you also can’t buy or rent it digitally, and it appears to be out of print on physical. If you look on eBay, Blu-ray copies are going for silly prices; some are listed at nearly $100, and they’re not even the steelbook versions.
Infuriatingly, 28 Weeks Later — the former’s sequel — is currently on Hulu and digital.
It’s not entirely clear why it’s so difficult to find in the US, but it’s believed to stem from Disney losing the rights to the original film. With 28 Years Later being developed under Sony Pictures, it’s likely there’ll be some sort of re-release of 28 Days Later on the horizon, be it on streaming or a 4K remaster, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
“This film is one of the reasons I try to buy more DVDs, since it shows streaming is an unreliable form of access. Absolutely ridiculous that such a well-known and popular movie is just inaccessible for what I can only assume is licensing issues,” another Redditor commented. “100% expect it to hit streaming in more countries and a new physical release in time for 28 Years Later,” a third wrote.
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In the meantime, you can find out everything we know about 28 Years Later, check out other new movies to stream right now, and find other horror movies to get excited about in 2024.
