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You may not know much about writer and soon-to-be-director Joe Cornish, but you might in the very near future. He co-wrote, with Edgar Wright, the screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Black Unicorn, which is currently in production. And he’s also been working with Wright on his adaptation of Marvel’s Ant-Man. And according to Empire, he will begin work in February on his own feature film, the very cool alien invasion flick Attack the Block.

Attack the Block follows the story of a gang of south London teenagers who are forced to defend their tower block from alien invasion. It is described by Will Clarke, CEO of Optimum Releasing (the company backing the project), as one of the most “inventive and entertaining scripts” out there right now. The film’s official synopsis says a bit more:

An attractive young woman walks home through dark, dangerous streets in south London. She falls into an ambush. Five ghoulish, hooded youths surround her— they take her mobile, her purse, her engagement ring, but they want more. Just then, a fireball explodes out of the sky and destroys a nearby parked car.

From the wreckage emerges a vicious little alien that the youths hunt down, kill and triumphantly parade back to their block. But their adventure is not over. The night is still young and the attack on the block has only just begun…

Brendan Connelly over at /Film has called it something along the lines of Shaun of the Dead with aliens. And with two Shaun producers (Nira Park and James Wilson) on for Block, and Edgar Wright taking an Exec. Producer credit, along with the recent chatter that Shaun star Nick Frost has made on Twitter about taking meetings with (and loving) Joe Cornish, I’d say they’re on their way. I for one, will be looking out for more updates on Attack the Block as its development continues.