One of the great cult sci-fi flicks of the 2010s is Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block, in which aliens invade a South London council estate and a group of local kids must defend their home. If you have not seen it, fix your life and get right with the lord. Attack the Block is AWESOME. It’s also John Boyega’s breakout role, and there has long been talk of Boyega reuniting with writer/director Joe Cornish and the producing team of Edgar Wright, Nira Park, and James Wilson. Finally, ten years on from the original film, the band is reunited for Attack the Block 2, with Cornish returning to write and direct, Boyega to star, and Wright and his partners to produce, along with Cornish and Boyega who will produce as well. No word on whether we’ll see other original cast members like Alex Esmail, Jodie Whitaker—now portraying the Thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who—and Nick Frost.
Attack the Block ended in an interesting place that feels even more relevant than it did in 2011. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say the film had something to say about policing and prejudice, especially in lower-class communities that are predominately people of color, and I wonder how that will pick up ten years later. There are no plot details as yet, but I can’t imagine a sequel would not address those themes. Not that I expect the sequel to be heavy-handed. I do not. Attack the Block isn’t heavy-handed, it’s solid sci-fi action first and foremost. It just also has a brain about how speculative fiction can address the real world, something a lot of contemporary mainstream sci-fi is missing. The sci-fi that does have brains is usually relegated to cult status, like Attack the Block and Ex Machina. I just hope the sequel does not take a million years to come out, I would buy a ticket to Attack the Block 2 tomorrow.
