When I got to see Attack the Block at SXSW, people went crazy for it! This isn’t surprising now when you start to look at all the hype for the movie but at the time, the fact people went nuts over it was a big deal. SXSW was the place where people in America were going to see the movie for the first time and I’m sure that there were many people in the audience who were there to gauge reaction.
I captured the moment on video (you can watch it here) when director, Joe Cornish stood on stage alongside Edgar Wright who servers as Executive Producer on Attack the Block as he asked the audience what they thought of it and whether they thought a US audience would understand the rather English jokes, humour and accents. The entire audience at the Alamo Drafthouse went crazy for it shouting back that they thought that people would love it and it seems that Screen Gems (part of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions) agreed as news broke last night that the company has picked up the movie which is awesome news for Joe and everyone involved in the project.
Massive congrats to Cornish and his team for not only coming up with the idea, writing it, getting it made and breaking into the US market. It’s so great to see that a small British production with a relatively unknown cast can do so well abroad. What with Kick-Ass and now Attack the Block, hopefully this will pave the way for more British based movies to get distribution across the world. There’s rumours floating around that the movie may have subtitles in the US but that may not come to fruition. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Attack the Block hits UK cinemas 13th and stars Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker, Chris Wilson, Luke Treadaway, Joey Ansah, Lee Nicholas Harris. If you’ve not seen the trailer for Attack the Block, you can check it out here. This is a movie you’re all going to love!
Our 5* review of the movie can also be seen / read here.
It’s hits UK cinemas 13th May.
Here’s the official press release from Screen Gems.
CULVER CITY, CA April 6, 2011 – Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) announced today that it has acquired U.S. rights to ATTACK THE BLOCK written and directed by Joe Cornish. Screen Gems will distribute the highly regarded film which won the Midnight Feature Audience Award at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival. The announcement was made today by SPWA President Steve Bersch and Screen Gems’ President Clint Culpepper.
The London-set action-adventure ATTACK THE BLOCK stars Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter, and Nick Frost. The Big Talk Pictures production was produced by Nira Park and James Wilson. Matthew Justice, Tessa Ross, Jenny Borgars, Will Clarke, Olivier Courson, and Edgar Wright executive produced.
Culpepper said, “Steve Bersch screened this film for me and I fell completely in love with it. The film is, at once, charming, scary, funny, hip, clever and completely hits its mark. I hope this is the beginning of a long relationship with these incredibly talented filmmakers.”
Bersch stated, “ATTACK THE BLOCK has already proven to captivate the SXSW audience with its unique and suspense filled plot including our executives Scott Shooman and Lia Buman who saw it during the festival and raved about it. Joe has created a piece of work we know the masses will enjoy and we are thrilled to be bringing it to a larger stage through Screen Gems.”
ATTACK THE BLOCK follows a gang of tough inner-city kids who rob Sam (Whittaker) as she is walking home in a scary South London tower block. She flees when the gang is attacked by a small alien creature which falls from the sky. While Sam and the police hunt for the gang, a second wave of creatures falls. The gang grabs weapons, mount bikes, and set out to defend their turf. But this time, the creatures are much bigger. Savage and bestial, nothing will stand in their way. And the bunch of no-hope kids who just attacked Sam are about to become her only hope.
SPWA’s Michael Helfand and Scott Shooman negotiated the acquisition of ATTACK OF THE BLOCK on behalf of Sony with StudioCanal’s Harold van Lier. The film was co-developed and financed by StudioCanal, Film4 and the UK Film Council with StudioCanal handling worldwide sales and releasing in the UK through its company Optimum on May 11th.
