“Good Sunday Morning People. Last night I took my daughter Satchel to this New,Hip British Indie Film ATTACK THE BLOCK.It’s about a Multi-Cultural group of Teenagers (Mostly Black)in London who fight the Invasion of Aliens.I know it sounds Bugged Out but it’s DOPENESS.FUNNY TOO”
“If it ATTACK THE BLOCK is playing near you this Weekend CHECK IT OUT.Speeezzzy Leezzzy will not Steerezzy you Wrongeeeezzzy.Hee Hee Hee”
Those are a couple of tweets that director Spike Lee posted to Twitter earlier this summer, and clearly he was very impressed with Joe Cornish‘s excellent and original urban alien invasion flick “Attack the Block.” While the film itself didn’t quite turn into the crossover sensation many had hoped after it blew away audiences at SXSW, it’s a cult classic in the making if it isn’t one already. Cornish wisely went with a mostly no-name and previously inexperienced group of kids for his film, and the gamble paid off, and as anyone who saw the film knew, lead John Boyega was a revelation. Tough as nails, intelligent, but with sensitivity hiding just underneath his rough exterior, through his character of Moses he brought the film the emotional and thematic depth that raises “Attack the Block” right above other entries in the genre. Well, it appears Lee really liked what he saw too, because he’s gone ahead and given the man his first Hollywood role.
First announced back in June, “Da Brick” is a new series set up over at HBO that finds Lee teaming with “Entourage” creator Doug Ellin and Mike Tyson acting as a producer, in a new original series set in Newark, New Jersey, that is partially inspired by the boxer’s youth and chronicles what it’s like to be a young, black American man in a supposedly “post-racial” U.S. Enter Boyega, who will be playing Donnie, one of the central characters who is released from juvie on his 18th birthday and begins his life. That is one helluva part and a major potential breakout part for Boyega and we couldn’t be more excited.
HBO has just ordered up a pilot for the show which has a script from John Ridley (”Red Tails,” “U-Turn”). We presume with casting underway, the pilot will roll sometime this fall. No confirmation if Lee will direct but that seems like a no-brainer and it will continue a very busy stretch for the helmer who is currently hard at work on “Red Hook Summer” and will get to work in 2012 on “Oldboy” with Josh Brolin. We’re definitely keeping this one on our radar, but it does leave us with one question: can Boyega do a good Joisey accent?