ATTACK THE BLOCK'S John Boyega and others join Spike Lee's DA BRICK

HBO has begun casting Spike Lee's Da Brick. THR reports that Attack the Block's John Boyega and The Wire's Julito McCullum have been cast in the new boxing drama. Boyega will play "Donnie, who, after his release from juvenlie detention on his 18th birthday begins an exploration of what it means to be a man for himself and those around him." Milauna Jemai (NCIS) will play "Lynette, Donnie's mother, with him he reconnects with following a 14-month separation." McCullum is set to play "Kevin, Donnie's best friend and the one person he can't leave behind, no matter how much he may want to." Kamahl Naiqui Palmer (Gossip Girl) will play "Malik, the  moral center of Donnie's tight group of friends who is looking for direction between his middle-class upbringing and the harder realities of his environment."

The project has been described as "a contemporary exploration of what it means to be a young, black man in a supposedly post-racial America." Filming will take place in Newark, NJ. The show will be exec produced by Mike Tyson, Entourage creator Doug Ellin and Jim Lefkowitz, along with Tyson's wife, Lakiha Tyson. The project is to be directed by Lee and John Ridley will write and serve as showrunner.

i loved Attack the Block and am happy to see that Boyega has landed the lead. This sounds like a cool project and one that is in good hands with HBO and Lee. What are your thoughts?