Now this is how you celebrate the 10th anniversary of a movie’s release. Writer-director Joe Cornish and star John Boyega are going back to the block for a sequel to 2011’s Attack the Block, a perfect movie about teens in London fending off an alien invasion. Presumably those strange furry aliens are going to try again, though plot details have not yet been released.
When it was first released, Attack the Block didn’t make the splash it should have, but its enthusiastic fans have elevated it to cult status. (Everyone who loves this movie has introduced at least a dozen other people to its charms. That’s just facts.) In the decade since its release, Boyega has become a huge star via the Star Wars franchise and his role in Pacific Rim: Uprising, while also taking on dramatic roles like his recent turn in Small Axe. Two of his Block co-stars also went on to further SFF adventures: Franz Drameh as Jefferson Jackson on The Flash and other Arrowverse shows, and Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor on Doctor Who.
Cornish, though, has kept a fairly low profile; he co-wrote Ant-Man and The Adventures of Tintin and wrote and directed the sweet but underseen The Kid Who Would Be King. It was recently announced that his next project will be adapting Mark Millar’s Starlight—but one can certainly hope Attack the Block 2 takes priority.
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This time around, Boyega is producing as well as starring. There’s no word yet on whether any of the rest of the cast (those who survived the first invasion, that is) will return. If you haven’t seen the first film yet, it doesn’t currently seem to be streaming anywhere, but can be rented on the usual platforms.
When there’s any more news on this sequel, we’ll be shouting about it.
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I’m glad to hear it’s getting a sequel, but I’m worried that expanding the movie’s world might invalidate my headcanon that AtB takes place in the Doctor Who universe (as one of those grittier sidelines like Torchwood or Class). Yeah, Jodie Whittaker’s in it, but Colin Baker and Peter Capaldi (and David Tennant on audio) had pre-Doctor roles in Who. And it just feels like the kind of story that might happen in the Whoniverse while the Doctor’s away.
It would be more accurate to say Franz Drameh’s Jefferson Jackson/Firestorm was from DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and other Arrowverse shows. His Flash debut was merely to set him up for his regular role in Legends, and his other Arrowverse appearances have all been in crossover episodes.
it never blew up because it had the most limited u.s release possible. and it only started airing on u.s. cable around late 2019. it’s the kind of flick that should pop up every month. similar thing happened with ethan hawke’s “predestination.” it played in nyc for about two weeks, i caught it on cable three years later. once. criminally underexposed.
“attack the block” was one of the best friday afternoons i ever spent at the movies. hope they get the entire cast – at least all the kids.
UK viewers know Joe Cornish best for The Adam and Joe Show, along with Adam Buxton which is best described as a bit like Spaced but not fiction.
Fun trivia fact, Adam and Joe were in Shaun of the Dead. They’re two of the zombies that get killed by the army right at the end.