WhenAttack the Blockarrived in dramaturgy in 2011 , it recoup just one-half of its $ 11 million budget . The critic , however , were positively charged in their reviews , and the film became a furor classic . Its unique commixture of science fiction , comedy , and repugnance struck all the right note of hand and plunge some of its young stars onto big thing — most notablyJohn Boyega , who four years later was spew as Finn inStar Wars : The Force Awakens . It also helped propelJodie Whittakerinto the mainstream , and in 2017 she became the 13th avatar of The Doctor — and the very first woman to tackle the part — onDoctor Who .
1. A real mugging inspiredAttack the Block.
Years before makingAttack the Block , theater director Joe Cornishwas muggedin south London . The gang of kids took his pocketbook and cellphone . The incident stayed with him , and 10 years later he film a similar , albeit more dramatic , mugging for the opening scene of his directorial debut , Attack the Block . But Cornish did n’t want to treat the mugger — the so - call hoodies — as one - dimensional criminals . Instead , they become the principal characters in the movie , particularly the teenage gang leader Moses , played by John Boyega .
2. Joe Cornish visited youth groups in south London to ensure their portrayal inAttack the Blockwas authentic.
Cornish spend months with youth groups in south London , ask them what they suppose about the idea of the motion picture . He read everything , partially to get a handle on how they spoke , so that he could incorporate authentic - sound dialogue into the movie . He also take them what weapons they ’d expend in the case ofan exotic intrusion .
More importantly , Cornish want to get to know these kids , some of whom were already involved in law-breaking and were interchangeable to the fibre of Moses . Wheninterviewedlater about the film , Cornish said some of them had “ just been cornered a bit by biography , and I intend that often the direction they ’re portrayed does n’t aid with that . Culturally , it make the job worse , not better . ” This sociological subtext , and the humanizing of misunderstood youth , is a big part of the movie .
3. Some lines inAttack the Blockare things the director heard while doing his research.
assail the Blockhas plenty of large one - liners . Some of these were things thatkids saidto Cornish when he evidence them about the plot of the story , including : “ Too much foolishness for one text ” and “ You ’d be better off call the Ghostbusters , love life . ” Another credit line admit in the movie get along about after Cornish asked a girl what she ’d think of one of the creatures if she found it . She replied , “ I would n’t touch it , do n’t want to get Chlamydia . ” The quotation mark went straight into the script .
4.Attack the Blocktakes place on Guy Fawkes Night.
The opening shot feature fireworks over London . That ’s because the moving picture takes place onGuy Fawkes Night(November 5 ) . The pyrotechnic add to the general chaos of the Nox , and the crafty aliens presumably chose the Nox to cover their own arrival .
5. Places in theAttack the Blockare named after famous British science fiction authors.
The moving picture remove place in a fictitious neighborhood . The main council block in the movie is called Wyndham Tower in honour of John Wyndham , the English scientific discipline fabrication author famed for novels such asThe Day of the Triffids(1951 ) andThe Midwich Cuckoos(1957 ) . Other locations include Huxley Court ( Aldous Huxley ) , Wells Court ( H.G. Wells ) , Moore Court ( Alan Moore ) , Ballard Street ( J.G. Ballard ) , and Adams Street ( Douglas Adams ) . Just after the movie deed appear , the camera genus Pan across a map of the area , showing the various names .
6. The director ofAttack the Blockwas inspired by the tower blocks of London.
Tower blocks and council estates feature on a regular basis in gritty British cinema . And while the tower block inAttack the Blockare totally appropriate for the movie ’s background and themes , they also root on Cornish inother way : “ I all look at all these amazing tower cube that have been around me all my life and I thought ‘ Wow , these are like huge clap - out spaceships , or they ’re like Nakatomi Plaza [ fromDie heavily ] , or the Nostromo [ fromAlien ] ! ’ ”
7. John Carpenter was a big influence on theAttack the Blockand its soundtrack.
Cornish is abig fanofJohn Carpenterand particularly his 1976 filmAssault on Precinct 13 . Like Carpenter , he wanted to create a playfulness motion-picture show that also had a social subtext . The music in Carpenter ’s films also inspiredAttack the Block . Inan interviewat New York Comic Con , Cornish said “ we canvass John Carpenter and one of the thing that I notice is that he never or very seldom utilize a gin drum , so he ’ll never have a 4/4 beat … and Carpenter ’s movies , even though they have these modern-day rhythmic soundtracks , it never feels like a pop promo . You still get absorbed in the action . ”
8. The aliens inAttack the Blockwere created using practical effects and very little CGI.
Budget restraint and Cornish ’s own preference for hardheaded limited effects imply very lilliputian CGI was usedto createthe movie ’s aliens . The extraterrestrial beings themselves were inspired by the ring wraiths in Ralph Bakshi ’s revive version ofThe Lord of the Rings(1978 ) and the wolf at the starting signal of 2007’s300 .
