Attack the Block: Case Study

Attack the Block: Case Study

Release Date: It was released on 11th May 2011

What did it make & how much does it cost: The movie cost 13 million dollars to create but only made 6 million dollars at the box office, thus making only less than half of what it took to create the film. The opening week of the film made £1,133,859 in the UK. 

Box Office value today: However, due to its growing fame, the new box office value of the film today is 4.1 Million, this I feel is because many audiences today were too young to watch said film and the hybrid of genres was confusing to many viewers in the 2010's but is now a regular mix of genre today.

Starring: 'Attack the Block' stars John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones (this was their big break that go these actors noticed)

Who Directed and wrote it: The Director and Writer of the film was Joe Cornish, a British creator who has worked on numerous other projects such as: Little Britain Series 2, Video Diaries for 'Hot Fuzz' & 'Shaun of the Dead'. Cornish has worked with Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg.

Executive Producer: 'Edgar Wright' was the executive producer for 'Attack the Block'; he later then helped create scripts for upcoming films such as, The Adventures of Tin Tin: The secrets of the Unicorn' with Cornish and then later worked on larger films such as 'The Astonishing Ant Man' for Marvel Studios

What Genre is this: 'Attack the Block' is a mixture of genres, this can be called a hybrid of genres such as: science fiction, action, horror and comedy.

How was it Distributed: The film was directed towards the teen/youth market; essentially the market audience was the media campaign. However, the secondary audience was fans of the Director and writer himself (which I think is a kind of obnoxious form of distribution). Distributed on social network sites and also had a large TV and print campaign. The film is a standalone film (not involved with conglomerates) however was distributed by 'Optimum Releasing' and it's Production Companies were: StudioCanal Features, Film4 UK Film Council, and Big Talk Pictures.

Did they use CGI: Cornish wanted to make something you could really 'see' on screen and so the creatures within the film are not CGI but instead are performed by quadrupeds. 

Where was it filmed: The location within the narrative of 'Attack the Block' is Whyndam House in South London, however when shooting it was a mixture of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle and Islington. 

Awards: The film won numerous awards such as the BAFTA Awards 2012 as a Nominee, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2012 Nomination, Won the Austin Film Critics Association 2011,Won the B-Movie Film Festival 2012,Won the Black Film Critics Circle Awards 2011, Black Reel Awards 2012,British Independent Film Awards 2011 and Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2012.

Reviews: At the time the film gained a 75/100 on Metacritic and a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Synergy: As the film was a stand alone/independent film, the production team lacked financial funding to advertise the film to its' intended target audiences. However, some forms they were able to use were: DVD, Blue-Ray, Soundtrack and a Game.