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Everything We Know About John Boyega’s Attack the Block Sequel
Creator Joe Cornish has dropped a few clues about what to expect from Boyega's next alien encounter.
Before he was Rebel scum and Imperial ex-stormtrooper FN-2187 (aka “Fin”) in the most recent Star Wars trilogy, John Boyega was an up-and-coming actor known for standing out in a handful of smaller-budget films. Of those, 2011’s British sci-fi horror comedy Attack the Block (stream it here on Peacock) has enjoyed the biggest sustained fan following, thanks in part to Boyega’s memorable role in the film as Moses, a smack-talking street hustler who helps his gonzo teenage gang fight back against a wild alien invasion.
Both Boyega and Attack the Block director Joe Cornish have since gone on to higher-profile stardom, with Cornish co-writing the screenplay for Marvel’s Ant-Man, writing and directing 2019’s The Kid Who Would Be King, and developing 2023's mystery thriller series Lockwood & Co. But with Attack the Block finding enduring success as a cult classic with tons of expectant and devoted fans, Cornish revealed in 2021 that plans were underway to develop an Attack the Block sequel — and that the movie would bring back Boyega to reprise his role as Moses.
What do we know about the Attack the Block sequel?
Since first making waves with that 2021 announcement, Cornish has offered a few reassuring clues about the kind of Attack the Block sequel that he and Boyega want to make. Perhaps the biggest thing to note on that front is that he’s not in any hurry, preferring quality over quickness in creating a worthy successor to the first film.
“My rule for what makes a good sequel is to make a good film,” Cornish told Discussing Film in 2023. “I think what makes a bad sequel is when you’re doing it just to cash in on the first movie and no one can accuse us of doing that. By the time it comes out, it’ll probably be like 15 years later. Make a really good movie and have a story you really want to tell.”
Without giving away too many details, Cornish added that bringing back Boyega — now in his 30s but still only in his teens when Attack the Block was made — won’t create any continuity issues for the kind of sequel story he has in mind.
“The story we want to tell has to do with Moses as a man as opposed to Moses as a boy,” he explained in the same 2023 interview. “The time that has passed is integral to the story. We couldn’t have told this story five years ago but we can tell it five years ahead… I’m very lucky that the 18-year-old newcomer [Boyega] is now, you know, a 30-year-old international movie star.”
It sounds, too, as if Cornish is serious about getting all the little things right — even if it means slowing down to ensure that the sequel to Attack the Block is as well-crafted as its smaller-budget indie predecessor.
“"We are deep in research, working on the screenplay," Cornish shared with SYFY WIRE in 2023. “One of the things that we feel helped the first movie work was this combination of made-up fantasy and reality. So we did a lot of research for the first movie, and we're doing the same for this movie. We have the storyline, we have a detailed treatment, and we're doing all the research necessary to take that to screenplay at the moment… Attack the Block was my first film, so nobody was waiting for that. Nobody was going, ‘Come on, hurry up with that one!’ I had plenty of time to get the script where I needed it to be and I'm going to do the same with this one.”
With all that in mind, it makes sense that there’s no word just yet on when the sequel to Attack the Block might invade theaters. In the meantime, check out Boyega’s pre-Star Wars breakout role in the original Attack the Block, streaming on Peacock here.
