Rusty cars arrive for 28 Years Later filming at Richard Dunn

Film crews first arrived at the iconic Bradford landmark at the start of this month to begin shooting scenes for horror epic 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.

It is the latest in a franchise of zombie films, that began with 28 Days Later in 2002, which was a roaring success and featured a young Cillian Murphy.

24-hour security has been on site since cameras, lights, and all things related to movie production arrived in early September, and will remain in place until next Friday.

At the end of this week, some new arrivals were sighted at the former sports centre, which closed in late 2019 and most recently has been touted to become a skate centre by the 20th Century Society.

Rusty old cars and ice cream van appear outside former Richard Dunn Centre where filming is taking place (Image: Gazz Hall at The West Yorkshire News Telegraph Facebook page) In a small car parking area at the back of the building, previously accessible by a single road from Rooley Avenue, seven worn vehicles have turned up.

The cars, in various states of decay, are mainly parked up in bays, with one seemingly “abandoned” just before a parking spot and another bottlenecking the access point to the area, as if it has been left while exiting.

One of the parked vehicles seems to even have moss growing on its roof.

Rusty old cars and ice cream van appear outside former Richard Dunn Centre where filming is taking place (Image: Gazz Hall at The West Yorkshire News Telegraph Facebook page) There was an intriguing sight near an entrance to the sports centre, just up a flight of steps and grass bank from the car park – a rusted ice cream van, that definitely hadn’t served anything for multiple years in this fictional world.

The vehicles were first spotted on Thursday and were still in the same place on Friday, but for the addition of a dropside van and forklift near the ice cream van.

Earlier in the week, scores of film trucks were stationed in the main Richard Dunn car park, along with several Range Rovers and other vehicles.

Rusty old cars and ice cream van appear outside former Richard Dunn Centre where filming is taking place (Image: Gazz Hall at The West Yorkshire News Telegraph Facebook page) A huge crane carrying lighting could be seen at the front of the building, where the glass windows are located.

A letter on paper headed ‘28 Years Later Ltd’ was sent to people who live on Sunny Bank Road, which is close to the old sports centre, outlining the planned filming earlier this month.

One resident told the T&A: “At first, we were a bit concerned with what was going on.

“But we’ve found out that they’ll be filming on September 24th and 25th, and one of the exterior scenes you’ll be able to see part of Sunny Bank Road.”

The letter told residents that preparation work for the filming would start - using the entrance to Sunny Bank Road to access the sports centre - on Monday, September 2.

Rusty old cars and ice cream van appear outside former Richard Dunn Centre where filming is taking place (Image: Gazz Hall at The West Yorkshire News Telegraph Facebook page) At the time, a Bradford Council spokesperson said: “We have allowed a leading film production company to utilise the former Richard Dunn site to shoot film scenes as part of an exciting film production.”

28 Days Later reset the zombie genre for the 21st century by making victims of the ‘rage virus’ move quickly.

It was shot on a low budget with digital equipment and five years later a sequel was released, with 28 Weeks Later (2007) continuing the story as the virus spread beyond Britain’s shores.

Horror fans have been lobbying for an update ever since and 28 Years Later - and its sequel The Bone Temple - will bring the story bang up to date.

Trucks parked up in the car park earlier this week (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

According to IMDB: “Originally, the follow-up was set to be titled “28 Months Later”, continuing with the movie’s timeline-set title motif.

“However, after so much time had passed since we last returned to this world in 2007 (28 Weeks Later), it was deemed more appropriate to name the film “28 Years Later”.”

28 Years Later, expected to be released in summer 2025, is set to star Cillian Murphy, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is directed by Nia DaCosta, from a screenplay by Alex Garland.