Screen Gems Will Distribute SXSW Midnight Hit Attack The Block

If you know anyone who attended the SXSW film festival, odds are they came back raving about Attack The Block; our own Matt Patches called it "one of the best action movies of the year," and the Edgar Wright-produced film was such a success it traveled to Los Angeles for a special screening weeks after the festival, even without distribution in place.

Now, finally, the rest of us will have the chance to take a look at what's causing all the buzz. Sony announced today that they have picked up the film and that Screen Gems will distribute it; there's no release date yet in place, but it sure seems like a good late-summer offering to me. Here's what Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper had to say about the film:

“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.”

Given the strong SXSW buzz it was only a matter of time before Attack the Block found distribution, and it's refreshing to see a studio like Screen Gems, usually making cash off cheapie horror films like The Roommate or Obsessed, branching into festival acquisitions and movies people already love. Now I just want to know when they're bringing it to New York so I can finally know what all my SXSW attendee friends have been raving about.