Tag: Attack The Block

Posted on in Film News

John Boyega Officially Returns To Kick More Alien Ass In Joe Cornish’s ‘Attack The Block 2’

Folks might be unfamiliar with how British actor John Boyega developed his career in Hollywood and it all started with Joe Cornish’s alien invasion comedy Attack The Block, the 2011 R-rated parody saw a group of London toughs led by Boyega’s Moses as animal-like alien invade their estate block. The group of hoodlums pivot to become protectors of fellow residents when it’s clear the aliens aren’t terribly friendly.

Attack The Block had a similar tone to Edgar Wright’s fantastic zombie flick Shaun of The Dead, which wasn’t that surprising as Edgar was a producer and has a longstanding working relationship with Joe Cornish. You might remember that the pair once co-wrote the original script of Marvel’s Ant-Man only to exit over creative differences.

The success of the cult film helped push John towards the chase for a franchise role as he had teased an interest in playing Marvel’s Blade in Attack The Block press interviews, taking the mantle from Wesley Snipes, almost a decade before Mahershala Ali was announced as the new Eric Brooks. It ultimately led to John auditing for J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm to play Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens officially launching his career to a completely different level.

There has been talk from director Joe Cornish was considering about making Attack The Block 2 and there is now confirmation by Deadline that Boyega is set to return with Joe also returning to write and direct the mature sci-fi comedy. Edgar Wright is back as producer as well via Complete Fiction Pictures.

The original co-starred Nick Frost (Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who), but it remains to be seen if they’ll reprise their roles.

It’s unknown when they’ll want to begin production as Joe is a tad busy shooting the Netflix series Lockwood over the summer.

ATTACK THE BLOCK – Trainee nurse Sam is walking home to her flat in a scary South London tower block when she’s robbed by a gang of masked, hooded youths. She’s saved when the gang are distracted by a bright meteorite, which falls from the sky and hits a nearby parked car. Sam flees, just before the gang are attacked by a small alien creature that leaps from the wreckage. The gang chase the creature and kill it, dragging its ghoulish carcass to the top of the block, which they treat as their territory. While Sam and the police hunt for the gang, a second wave of meteors fall. Confident of victory against such feeble invaders, the gang grab weapons, mount bikes and mopeds and set out to defend their turf. But this time, the creatures are bigger. Much bigger. Savage, shadowy and bestial, they are hunting their fallen comrade and nothing will stand in their way. The estate is about to become a battleground. And the bunch of no-hope kids who just attacked Sam are about to become her and the block’s, only hope.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

20th Century Hires Joe Cornish To Write/Direct A Feature Film Adaptation of Mark Millar’s ‘Starlight’

Finally, a new high-profile project has been announced at Disney’s 20th Century Studios.

Attack The Block’s Joe Cornish has been assigned to write and direct a feature film adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic book Starlight. The project seems to be influenced by sci-fi swashbucklers such as Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and John Carter.

The comic centers on a space hero who saved the universe 35 years ago but when he came back to Earth, no one believed his fantastic stories. He married, had kids and settled into old age, but then his old rocket ship shows up, and he is called back for one fantastic adventure.

It’s a little odd would attempt Starlight since 20th Century Studios has the rights to Flash Gordon with development on both animated and live-action movies over the last couple of years. Perhaps, the twist is appealing enough to purse this project alongside Flash?

Joe previously co-wrote the original Ant-Man script with Edgar Wright, the pair also worked on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tinin: The Secret of The Unicorn. He recently directed The Kid Who Would Be King and is set to helm the Lockwood series for Netflix.

Mark Millar is a comic book writer that is behind mature work such as Kingsman, Kick-Ass, Wanted, Empress, Superior, and Jupiter’s Legacy.The latter getting an upcoming Netflix series.

At one time, 20th Century Fox (pre-merger) was developing a film based on his Shazam!/Superman knock-off Superior with Matthew Vaughn (had been attached to direct a Flash Gordon remake). It’s unknown if the studio is going to move forward with that superhero project anytime soon.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Joe Cornish Says He’s Spoken To John Boyega Recently About Story Ideas For An ‘Attack The Block’ Sequel

Director Joe Cornish has revealed to Entertainment Weekly during a SXSW interview that he’s recently spoken with Attack The Block actor John Boyega about sequel ideas. You might remember that Joe’s sci-fi comedy helped give international exposure to Boyega before he was ultimately cast as Finn by J.J. Abrams for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

CORNISH: “We’re working on it at the moment. John Boyega was round at my place a few weeks ago and we sat in the garden — socially distanced — talking about story ideas until it was so dark we couldn’t see each other. So, yeah, we’re working on that.”

John’s Attack The Block co-star Jodie Whittaker also got her own sci-fi franchise gig as well becoming the 13th Doctor on the BBC’s Doctor Who series.

It’s unknown if we’ll actually get Attack The Block 2, but it would be exciting to see what could happen if Joe Cornish was given a much larger budget for a sequel since the original had some decent production value for only costing $13 million to make. However, while the film has earned a bit of a cult follow on streaming and home video, it flopped at the box office only earning $6 million (less than half it’s budget).

Given it’s troubles at the box office, I wouldn’t be shocked if a sequel ended up at a streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon.

ATTACK THE BLOCK – Attack the Block follows an unlucky young woman and a gang of tough inner city kids who make an unlikely alliance to try to defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an intergalactic war-zone.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Posted on in Television News

‘Lockwood’: Joe Cornish Reunites With ‘Attack The Block’ & ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Production Designer Marcus Rowland For Netflix Series

The Ronin can confirm that production designer Marcus Rowland has joined Lockwood, the Netflix series based on the books from author Jonathan Stroud will be directed by Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) with Edgar Wright‘s Complete Fiction producing.

Books in Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series include The Screaming Staircase, The Dagger in The Desk, The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow, and The Empty Grave. Allowing them to make multiple seasons if they’re inclined to.

THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE – For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

The project was first announced back in May 2020.

Marcus Rowland is best known for collaborating with Edgar Wright on his films Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The World’s End, Baby Driver, and most recently Last Night In Soho. He also worked with Cornish on his feature films Attack The Block and The Kid Who Would Be King.

This would be the production designer’s first return to television since Edgar’s series Spaced from 2004.

You might remember that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish co-wrote the original script for Marvel’s Ant-Man before Edgar dropped-out over creative differences with the studio leading to Peyton Reed to be hired as it’s director.

Posted on in Film News

Joe Cornish Says He’s Met With John Boyega About An ‘Attack The Block’ Sequel

It sounds like John Boyega might be returning to the world of science fiction in the near future.

While on the Script Apart Podcast (via Empire), writer/director Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) has revealed that he has met with Star Wars actor John Boyega about potentially returning for a sequel to his breakout British sci-fi comedy Attack The Block.

CORNISH: “We’ve got ideas. I met with John a couple of months ago to talk about it. We’ve always had ideas after the first one. But obviously we’ve both been busy doing different things. In a way, the longer you leave it, the more interesting it is. So, that’s all I’ll say.”

Boyega got noticed thanks to his leading role in the R-rated film which led to big franchise roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Pacific Rim: Uprising. This comes after John felt he might see some career backlash from speaking out at UK protests supporting Black Lives Matter, which saw a bunch of directors stating publicly they are keen to work with the actor after his impassioned speech went viral on social media.

Next May will see the film’s 10th Anniversary.

ATTACK THE BLOCK – From the producers of Shaun of the Dead, ATTACK THE BLOCK is a fast, funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen street gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. It turns a London housing project into a sci-fi battleground, the low-income apartment complex into a fortress under siege. And it turns a crazy mix of tough street kids into a team of kick ass heroes. It’s inner city versus outer space and it’s going to explode.



SOURCE: SCRIPT APART PODCAST