This past Friday saw Joe Cornish appear at New York Comic-Con to conduct interviews with us journalists about the Blu-ray release of his feature debut, Attack the Block. I was one of those lucky enough to have a chance to talk with the filmmaker, who told us about some of his favorite features on the Blu-ray, and also how he ended up being one of the co-writers on Steven Spielberg‘s The Adventures of Tintin. Sadly, only two questions could be fit in, but he was gracious enough to give us detailed answers to either.

Others also managed to get some nice answers and tidbits from Cornish. For one thing, it turns out that the creature effects were partly informed by his black cat; the way they look from behind, to him, appears as a silhouette. With that influence in mind, the effects are meant to have a practical, traditional feel to them. A British movie being received positively in the United States also came up — Cornish appreciates the fact that his love of American and inspiration from films, like Gremlins or Predator, paid off when it comes to how Americans actually respond to his work.

Relating to this, he also said that the goal was to mix films that “combined the real world with fantasy” (such as ones mentioned above) with great gang movies he loves — The Warriors, Rumble Fish, The Outsiders, and Streets of Fire — and putting it in an area he knows: south London. Of course, the topic of his next project was also on the minds of some. The director said that he has “another idea, another sort of fantasy thing,” but it needs to be kept secret so that people “don’t second-guess it too much.” A shame to not know more, but it’s good to hear about another project moving along in some regard.

Further influence came from M. Night Shyamalan‘s Signs, which reminded the director of his love for alien siege pictures, as well as John Sayles‘ unproduced screenplay Night Skies — it influenced Gremlins, Poltergeist, and the end helped form E.T. Then, there was a desire to see how the bad things gangs of kids do could be utilized for positive actions. I think it’s safe to say that the result worked out well.

You can see a video of the interview below, shot with professionalism by Raffi Asdourian:

Meanwhile, IFC managed to learn about Attack the Block‘s future from the director. Some of the ideas being thrown around include an American remake, a spin-off for television, and a sequel to the original film. Ideas for the lattermost are coming from two sources — executive producer Edgar Wright and star John Boyega. Whatever the Shaun of the Dead helmer might have in mind isn’t being divulged, but Cornish was more than willing to share what the lead actor would like to see.

As he says, “He has this image of a bigger alien attack on London, as if the attack we saw in ‘Attack the Block‘ was just the [first] wave and there’s another wave of bigger creatures. And he described to me this image of Moses leading a whole army of hood kids across the Thames, next to the houses of Parliament.” More specifically, the actor would like to see his character, Moses, “on a police horse” in a crusade with “this army of South London kids across the river to take on this bigger wave of aliens.”

Sounds like it could be fun (should it ever get made), but they should be careful to avoid the “bigger is better” approach that so often impairs a follow-up. But, the thing is, even Cornish isn’t sure if this would happen, and the director says he would “certainly like to do something different for my next thing if I get a chance to do a next thing.” After Attack the Block, though, I’ll be anticipating anything he has coming next.

Attack the Block hits Blu-ray/DVD on October 25th.

Were you a fan of Attack the Block? Would you like to see a sequel, or would you prefer he tackle something original?