‘Shaun of the Dead’: Edgar Wright Shuts Down Hope of a Sequel
Filmmaker Edgar Wright is known for making satirical genre movies. He frequently collaborates with actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. His mainstream movies started with 2004’s zombie satirical film Shaun of the Dead. The trio worked returned to work on 2007’s Hot Fuzz and 2013’s The World’s End. However, Wright’s fans have been begging him to make a Shaun of the Dead sequel. He recently shut down any potential hopes for a second installment.
‘Shaun of the Dead’ became a horror favorite
Zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead follows the title character (Pegg) and his friend Ed (Frost) as a zombie apocalypse begins. They seek safety in a local pub with their loved ones. However, nothing goes as planned in this horror-comedy. It’s highly inspired by George A. Romero‘s Dead trilogy.
Critics and audiences both highly enjoyed Shaun of the Dead. Additionally, it has gained a very loyal following. It’s regularly featured on horror best-of lists. The zombie genre has been exhausted for a long time, but Shaun of the Dead breathed life into it. Several movies tried to capture the same lightning in a bottle. But, there’s only one Shaun of the Dead.
Edgar Wright won’t be making a ‘Shaun of the Dead’ sequel
Games Radar reported on an interview where Wright talked about Shaun of the Dead. He explained how he’s moved forward from the horror-comedy genre. He doesn’t want to retread the same territory that he’s already explored much earlier in his career.
“I haven’t gone back to horror-comedy, because with Shaun Of The Dead I felt like I had said much of what I wanted to say with that movie,” Wright said. “It’s difficult to return to that, even as a producer. Sometimes I get sent films – people want to make the next Shaun and want me to come aboard as a producer. But I find it difficult to cover the same territory again.”
Wright explained how fan expectations don’t align with the reality of being a filmmaker. Movies take a long time and a lot of hard work to get the finished product on the silver screen. “The thing is that films take so long to make,” he said. “I think that’s the thing that fans don’t quite understand sometimes. They’ll say, ‘Why don’t you knock out a Shaun sequel?’ It’s like, these films take three years to make, you’ve got to really, really love it to do it.”
He continued: “So because films take longer to make, trying to challenge yourself with a different subject matter or something you haven’t done before, it’s always the real motivator.”
Edgar Wright has other plans
Wright appears to be less interested in making sequels than continuing his creative process with new stories. However, that isn’t to say that he’ll never make a sequel to one of his movies. He’s also entertained audiences with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Baby Driver. Wright might never pursue a Shaun of the Dead sequel, but he continues to deliver exciting projects.
He’s uninterested in returning back to the horror-comedy genre as of now, but his next project is a horror movie. Last Night in Soho is currently making its rounds on the film festival circuit and will be released on Oct. 29.
