20 years after its initial release, “Shaun of the Dead” still stands out as one of the most creative films of the 21st century. Equally notable for its unique brand of horror comedy and launching the mainstream international careers of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pegg was asked about the chances of another “Shaun of the Dead” movie hitting the big screen while reflecting on the film‘s legacy. He said that, while he and Wright have no interest in making the movie themselves, they wouldn’t technically be able to stop someone else from doing so. But that doesn’t mean they would be happy about it.
“I mean, Universal [Pictures] owns it. If they choose to reboot it, then they can if they want I guess,” Pegg said. “Although Edgar and I would be incensed.”
While there is no reboot of any kind in development, Pegg went on to reiterate that he also has no desire to make a “Shaun of the Dead” sequel because he feels like the original film tells a complete story and there’s nothing to add.
“Some stories have a beginning, a middle and an end,” he said. “If you were to see Shaun again, if the zombies came back, there’s just not a story to tell it. We’d have to reset everything that we created in ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ the journey that Shaun goes on and completes. He becomes a new person, but we’d have to then dismantle that in order to give him a new arc. Why? The best thing we can do with cinema is to challenge people and get them to see things they haven’t seen before and experience new things. Entertainment is the most overrated function of art.”
But while it sounds like Pegg and Wright won’t be teaming up for a “Shaun of the Dead” sequel anytime soon, the actor made it clear that they’re always looking for new opportunities to work together. The longtime friends haven’t collaborated on a movie since 2013’s “The World’s End” completed their Cornetto Trilogy with Nick Frost, but Pegg said they’re already looking ahead to their next projects.
“There’s something always in the works with Edgar and I,” he said. “Since ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ our lives have changed dramatically. We’re both busy into the distant future. The biggest challenge that we have right now is finding a moment to get together and spend six, seven weeks, to get our first draft out and come up with the idea. But we’re constantly looking for that. Edgar came over to my house last year and stayed for the week, and we just sort of talked about films and what we want to do next. We just need the time to do it. So it really is a question of when, not if.”
