Attack the Block is scripted by Joe Cornish whose name I don’t expect you to recognize, but he co-wrote Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and is also working on the potential Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) superhero flick Ant-Man. Speaking of Wright, he is an executive producer on the flick which recently debuted at South by Southwest to glowing reviews such as the one from Variety that started out as such:
Brit comedian-TV presenter Joe Cornish emerges fully formed as an exciting new writer-helmer with his enormously appealing debut feature, “Attack the Block.” Pitched as “inner city vs. outer space,” pic sees a quintet of teen street hoodlums defend their tower-block home in the projects from an invasion of shaggy-haired aliens with Day-Glo teeth. Set over one wild night in South London, this zero-to-hero tale will play gangbusters in its native Blighty before a rich ancillary career. Authentic Brit teen slang may render “Block” a puzzling life-form for foreign auds, but pockets of receptive fans across the planet are a given.
The film stars Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead), Jodie Whittaker (One Day), Luke Treadaway (Heartless), John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard and Jumayn Hunter and is currently without an American distributor. Will it get one? That seems to be up in the air.
Cornish, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times asked the SXSW audience, “Can I ask you guys something? American distributors are nervous about language, the slang.” The audience apparently shot back saying they could understand every word as the question as to whether the dialogue in the film may be “too English” or need subtitles for American audiences to understand the brogue-thick, slang-heavy dialogue.
Of course, UK audiences have nothing to worry about as the film is set for a May 13 release across the pond, but I can’t help but get the feeling this is a flick that will end up at Magnolia or Magnet and simply have to deal with being a small, cult favorite here in the States. Have a look at the international trailer below and see what you think.
