Long before he would become a Stormtrooper with a conscience who helped to save the galaxy, John Boyega was Moses. No, not of the Biblical variety, although this Moses was also a reluctant leader who led his people against a grave external threat. That’s where the namesake similarities stop though as 2011’s Attack the Block saw Boyega’s teenage street hood Moses have to rally his gang when their low-rent South London council estate is invaded by alien monsters on Guw Fawkes night. A massive critical smash that earned several film festival accolades (and stole my heart!), Attack the Block launched the career of Boyega, as well as a couple of co-stars like Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) and Franz Drameh (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow). It also announced writer/director Joe Cornish as the Next Big Thing with the young British filmmaker getting offer after offer for various gigs.
Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, nearly all those projects fell at various stages with Cornish only boasting a single directing credit (The Kid Who Would Be King) and two co-writing credits (The Adventures of Tintin, Ant-Man) since then. But as sad as it is that Cornish had all these failed projects, there’s really only one that fans have continuously asked about: Attack the Block 2. And now it’s finally happening!
Deadline broke the news last night, confirming that Cornish is officially writing and directing a sequel which he will also co-produce with Boyega through the latter’s UpperRoom Productions. And as Cornish pointed out, the timing for this announcement couldn’t be better as May 2021 marks the ten-year anniversary of the release of the original Attack the Block.
I’m thrilled we’re officially announcing our return to the world of Attack the Block on the tenth anniversary of the film’s release. I can’t wait to work alongside John again, bringing audiences an even bigger slice of inner-city alien action.
There’s zero word on timelines for now, and the plot of this sequel is also being kept tightly under wraps. However, Boyega hints that the passage of time since the first film could factor into events.
It’s been a decade since Attack the Block was released and so much has changed since then,” Boyega said. “I’m excited to see this heightened story return to the streets of London. Moses has remained one of my favourite characters to play and bringing him back is a huge honour.
This official announcement follows on from Cornish revealing last year that after Boyega’s fiery Black Lives Matter protest involvement, the two men met at Cornish’s home to discuss potential story ideas for an Attack the Block. As Boyega stated at the time, Attack the Block, which featured a black youth in a hoodie in a leading role was “trying to address issues that were fairly ingrained then, and have certainly stuck around. At the time when it came out, it put a lot of people’s backs up, because it has a very unusual protagonist and arc.” With the current political climate post the BLM protests, there’s no doubt that a sequel will be touching on those types of social issues again. But it’s that combo of subtext and freaking cool alien bashing action that made Attack the Block so damn good in the first place, so I say give me more.
Last Updated: May 18, 2021
