Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With his long-time comedy partner,

Adam Buxton Adam Offord Buxton (born 7 June 1969) is an English actor, comedian, podcaster and writer. With the filmmaker Joe Cornish, he is part of the comedy duo Adam and Joe. They presented the Channel 4 television series '' The Adam and Joe Show'' (19 ...

, he forms the comedy duo

Adam and Joe Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish are British comedy performers known together as Adam and Joe. They are best known for presenting ''Adam and Joe (radio show), Adam and Joe'' on BBC Radio 6 Music (2007–2009, 2011) and ''The Adam and Joe Show'' on C ...

. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''

Attack the Block ''Attack the Block'' is a 2011 British science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Joe Cornish and starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker and Nick Frost. It was the film debut of Cornish, Boyega and composer Steven Price. The f ...

''. He also co-wrote ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...

'' with

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

, and ''

Ant-Man Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) but first appeared in costum ...

'', with Wright, Adam McKay and

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...

Early life

Cornish was educated at the independent

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, where he became friends with both

and

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...

. At age 18, he went on to study at the Bournemouth Film School.

Career

''The Adam and Joe Show''

''The Adam and Joe Show'' was an ironic pop culture sketch show written, presented and directed by the duo. The show found cult success during its four series between 1996 and 2001. The best-known segments featured hit feature films recreated with stuffed toys, British television shows parodied using ''Star Wars'' action figures, and Vinyl Justice, in which the pair invaded rock stars' homes and searched their record collections for embarrassing records. Since the end of ''The Adam and Joe Show'', Cornish has continued to work in British television and radio as a presenter, writer and director, both with and without Buxton. He wrote and presented the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

film programme ''Back Row'' between 2002 and 2003. In 2001, he fronted the topical discussion show ''This Week Only'', alongside

Nick Frost Nicholas Jonathan Frost (born 28 March 1972) is a British actor, author, comedian, painter, producer and screenwriter. He has appeared in the ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz ...

and

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

. In 2007, he and Buxton began presenting ''

'', a radio show on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

. This was put on hold during 2010 while Cornish directed ''Attack the Block''; a new series began on Saturday 2 April 2011.

Film and TV

Cornish has made a number of behind the scenes documentaries/video diaries. They include Cornish following the making of ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...

'' series 2, which was screened on BBC Three and is included on the ''Little Britain'' Series 2 DVD; a video diary of his brief cameo as a zombie, which appears on the UK ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed (Nick Frost). The fi ...

'' DVD; and ''Hot Fuzz: The Fuzzball Rally'', where he followed his friends and collaborators,

and

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

on the US press tour for their film ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysteriou ...

''. There have been two cuts of the ''Fuzzball Rally'': a 28-minute version was included on the ''Hot Fuzz''

HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to th ...

(UK/US) and a 71-minute version was included on both the 3-Disc Collectors Edition DVD (US) and the

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

(US/UK) of ''Fuzz''. The documentary caused the latter's certification to be changed from a 15 certificate to an 18 certificate, due to the very strong language the documentary contains. He made a brief appearance in ''

'' as a white suited and bemasked Scenes-of-Crime Officer named "Bob". In 2017, he made a cameo in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' alongside Wright, where both played Resistance fighters. In 2006, he was announced as co-writer on a feature film adaptation of the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

comic book character ''

'', with ''Shaun of the Dead'' director

. Both Wright and Cornish received story by and screenplay credit on the finished film, after Wright's departure from the project in 2014. Wright and Cornish also rewrote

's script for ''

'' co-starring

, for

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

and

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

. In November 2013, Cornish was tipped to be

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

' lead choice for director of the upcoming ''

Star Trek Beyond ''Star Trek Beyond'' is a 2016 American science fiction action film directed by Justin Lin, written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, and based on the television series ''Star Trek'' created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the 13th film in the ''Star Tr ...

''. However,

Roberto Orci Roberto Gaston Orcí (born July 20, 1973) is a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. He began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Together they have been employed on television ...

was ultimately chosen to direct, before leaving the project in late 2014. In December 2020, the popular middle grade thriller series '' Lockwood & Co.'' was announced to be going to Netflix, adapted by Cornish. Cornish has continued his work in television comedy, directing parts of the pilot of ''

Modern Toss ''Modern Toss'' is a British comic by Jon Link and Mick Bunnage. Renowned for their scurrilous humour and highly stylised animation, it was created in 2004, initially as a website publishing single panel jokes and then as series of irregularly ...

'', and the pilot to Channel 4's '' Blunder''. According to an interview in ''

Word Magazine Word Magazine was an online magazine active from 1995 to 2000. History Launched in 1995 by Carey Earle, Tom Livaccari and Dan Pelson, Word Magazine created original stories, interviews, games, applications, music, interactive objects and art, an ...

'', he pulled out of directing the series of ''Blunder'' due to creative differences with Channel 4 and the production company. In early 2007, he directed the video for

Charlotte Hatherley Charlotte Franklin Hatherley (born 20 June 1979) is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and soundtrack composer. She initially came to prominence as guitarist and backing vocalist for alternative rock band Ash. Since leaving Ash in 2006, sh ...

's single "I Want You to Know".

''Attack the Block''

On 13 May 2011,

Optimum Releasing StudioCanal Limited, operating as StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing), is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles. The company releases many films, including foreign, anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), independent, art, British, ...

released ''

'', Cornish's directorial debut, which was executive produced by his friend and collaborator,

, and produced by

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...

, Big Talk Pictures, the

UK Film Council The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...

and Optimum's French parent company

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

(which would later rebrand Optimum under their name four months after the film's British release). The film is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

set in South London that pitches a gang of youths against an alien invasion. The film initially had no US distributor, but after the reaction of the press and attendees at the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

premiere, the US rights were purchased by

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

for theatrical release on 29 July 2011.

''The Kid Who Would Be King''

Cornish's second film was the fantasy adventure ''

The Kid Who Would Be King ''The Kid Who Would Be King'' is a 2019 fantasy action-adventure film written and directed by Joe Cornish. A British/American venture, the film stars Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Tom Taylor, Dean Chaumoo, Rhianna Doris, Angus Imrie, Rebecca Fergu ...

'', starring

Louis Ashbourne Serkis Louis George Ashbourne Serkis (born 19 June 2004) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Alex in the 2019 fantasy adventure film '' The Kid Who Would Be King''. Early life Ashbourne Serkis was born on 19 June 2004 in Haringey, Nor ...

. Filming took place in

Tintagel Tintagel () or Trevena ( kw, Tre war Venydh, meaning ''Village on a Mountain'') is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England. The village and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surroundin ...

. The film, also featuring

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actor ...

and

Rebecca Ferguson Rebecca Louisa Ferguson Sundström (born 19 October 1983) is a Swedish actress. She began her acting career with the Swedish soap opera ''Nya tider'' (1999–2000) and went on to star in the slasher film ''Drowning Ghost'' (2004). She came to in ...

, was released on 25 January 2019.

Future projects

In June 2012, it was announced that Cornish had been signed as director of a future film adaptation of

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work exp ...

's classic 1992 novel ''

Snow Crash ''Snow Crash'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's novels, it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, ...

'' for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. In May 2020, it was announced that Cornish would direct and write the TV series adaptation of '' Lockwood & Co.'' for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. In April 2021, it was announced that Cornish would direct and write an adaptation of ''Starlight'' for

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. In May 2021, it was announced that Cornish would write, direct, and produce the sequel to ''

''.

Filmography

Film Cameo roles Television

References

External links

*
The Tall Guy: The Joe Cornish Interview
– Channel 4
Adam and Joe: How We Met
– ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''
Joe, Adam and the Ant-man
– ''The Independent''
Some Groovy Attack the Block Updates – Shaun of the Dead With Aliens?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, Joe 1968 births Living people English male comedians English film critics English screenwriters English male screenwriters English radio personalities English television personalities English television presenters Comedians from London Film directors from London Male actors from London Writers from London People from Westminster People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth English male non-fiction writers People from Stockwell