When Attack the Block was first released in May 2011, it may have flopped at the box office, but everyone was in agreement that there were big things in store for writer/director Joe Cornish and star John Boyega. The street-level alien invasion story has endured for the last decade as a firm cult favorite, and still comfortably ranks as one of the most underrated sci-fi movies of the past ten years.
Boyega is now a major name in Hollywood, having appeared as Finn in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, and he recently scooped a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his performance in Steve McQueen’s anthology miniseries Small Axe. As for Cornish, he’s only helmed one feature since Attack the Block, and his Arthurian-inspired fantasy adventure The Kid Who Would Be King didn’t even come close to recouping the $59 million budget in theaters despite securing a strong Rotten Tomatoes score of 89%.
Talk of an Attack the Block sequel has reared its head every now and again, of course, with Cornish confirming last year that he’d spoken to Boyega about the project. And in a new interview, the filmmaker has confirmed once more that it’s actively being worked on and revealed that the duo recently met up to discuss potential story ideas.
“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.”
Cornish has hardly been prolific over the last decade, but he is set to adapt supernatural literary series Lockwood & Co. for Netflix, while Boyega is busier than ever. The 28 year-old has ensemble drama Naked Singularity, sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone, thriller Rebel Ridge, low budget two-hander The Test and chase movie Borderland all in various stages of development, and given such a packed schedule, it could be a while before an Attack the Block sequel gathers any sort of serious momentum.