Summary
Shaun of the Deadstar Simon Pegg explains why the zombie comedy movie should never be rebooted. Released in 2004,Shaun of the Deadhails from director Edgar Wright, with Pegg and Nick Frost starring as two slackers whose bland lives are disrupted by a zombie apocalypse. Love for the movie remains strong all these years later, especially since Pegg, Wright, and Frost would go on to enjoy other successful collaborations withHot Fuzz(2007) andThe World’s End(2013), with the three films collectively known as theCornetto Trilogy.
In a recent interview withTHR, Pegg is asked to share his feelings on a potentialShaun of the Deadreboot, and he is firmly against the idea. The actor explains that the 2004 film was actually very closely tied to aspects of his real life (and the lives of Wright and Frost) at the time, and thatrebooting it with the same title would be “cynical and exploitative.“Check out Pegg’s full comment below:
“I mean, Universal [Pictures] owns it. If they choose to reboot it, then they can if they want I guess. Although Edgar and I would be incensed.(Laughs.)
“Shaun of the Deadis incredibly personal. There’s so much of us in that film. The whole joke of Ed and Shaun not being able to ever come out of The Winchester was real. That was about Nick and I, that was about our decision to just stay in a North London pub.
“Edgar was always in town. He was always in Soho, and he always wanted us to come into town and hang out at [London private members’ club] The Groucho, and we never did. We always wanted to be in The Shepherds [pub]. My girlfriend, now my wife, was the same. She was like, “Are we going to The Shepherds again?” That inspired that whole storyline.
“The whole thing with Shaun’s mum, the stepdad, I had a problematic relationship with my stepfather. It was Edgar’s idea to kill the mum. I couldn’t believe it when he said that, but it was the best decision.
“There’s so much of our own heart and soul in that film. If someone was to reboot it, it would be a cynical and exploitative exercise. I would hope that people are in love with ourShaunenough to resist a reboot. Gary King [Pegg’s character inThe World’s End] as well, that was a lot about my own alcoholism. A really personal film.
“And the thought of anyone just nicking the title … I always got annoyed at Zack Snyder’sDawn of the Deadremake — it’s a great movie. It’s really exciting. But I hated the fact they called itDawn of the Dead, because that was George [Romero]’s film. They could have called itDeadish, which was a great line in the film that one of the actors used, and it still would have been a great film, but when you just take a title because people recognize it, it’s so disrespectful to the original.”
Why A New Take On The Edgar Wright Film Wouldn’t Work
In addition to rejecting the idea of a reboot, Pegg has also previously been vocal thatShaun of the Dead 2shouldn’t happen. Clearly, any attempt to capture that same magic in the bottle would be a major challenge all these years later, whether Pegg reprises his role as Shaun or if an entirely new creative team and set of actors reboots the story. Pegg and Frost, after all, are a major reason whyShaun of the Deadworked so well, and replacing them with new actors seems like an impossible task.
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It’s not just Pegg and Frost’s chemistry that made the movie sing, however, but the synergy between the two actors and Wright.Wright has a unique visual style and comedic sensibility as a directorthat also comes through inHot FuzzandThe World’s End. Bringing in a new director without these qualities would almost certainly result in a film that lacks that same spark, momentum, and laughs.
The story inShaun of the Deadcould certainly be repeated, but the film’s story is only one small part of why the movie worked so well. As reinforced byHot FuzzandThe World’s End,there’s something electric that happens when Wright, Pegg, and Frost work together, and this kind of chemistry would just be impossible to recapture with a different director and actors. Thankfully, however, there’s been no word of anyShaun of the Deadreboot being in the works.
Shaun of the Dead
Cast
From director Edgar Wright, Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg as Shaun, an ambitionless slacker who one day finds his world overrun by zombies. From a script by Wright and Pegg, Shaun of the Dead injects comedy into a typically horror-focused subgenre as Shaun and his lazy friend Ed (Nick Frost) attempt to rescue Shaun’s estranged girlfriend and make it through the apocalypse unscathed.
