Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun of the Dead was the link movie connecting Ready Player One and All About Steve.
Linked through Simon Pegg and Lucy Davis.
Both Simon Pegg and Lucy Davis appeared in Shaun of the Dead.
About Shaun of the Dead
"A romantic comedy. With zombies."
Shaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenuous attempts to snack on ordinary Londoners.
Directed by Edgar Wright
Written by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Where to watch
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Powered by JustWatch
Top cast
Behind the camera
Box office
Awards
Shaun of the Dead was met with critical acclaim and received three nominations at the British Academy Film Awards.
Soundtrack
Score by Dan Mudford
The score by Pete Woodhead and Daniel Mudford is a pastiche of Italian zombie film soundtracks by Goblin and Fabio Frizzi and also uses many cues from the original Dawn of the Dead taken from the De Wolfe production music library. Wright used Goblin as a temp track and later cleared it; he and Pegg made a mixtape of songs for the film. The jukebox scene featuring Queen's Don't Stop Me Now became a signature moment, and Coldplay's Chris Martin contributed a guest vocal on a Buzzcocks cover with Kate Ashfield.
Movie trivia
-
1
The film was directly inspired by Spaced's episode 'Art', in which Pegg's character hallucinates a zombie invasion after playing Resident Evil 2.
-
2
After Film4 cut the budget and other companies passed, Edgar Wright refused other television directing jobs until Shaun of the Dead was made, leaving him in some debt for a while.
-
3
Shaun of the Dead marks Nick Frost's film debut; Frost had been brought into Spaced despite a lack of acting experience and the Shaun-Ed dynamic mirrors their real-life friendship.
-
4
Pegg and Wright wrote the screenplay in eight weeks; the actors met three weeks before filming for read-throughs and only two scenes were improvised (Ed's pub description and Shaun offering peanuts).
-
5
Kate Winslet was approached for the role of Liz and Helen Mirren for Shaun's mother but both turned the parts down; Penelope Wilton was cast as Barbara because of her work in Ever Decreasing Circles.
-
6
Zombie extras were recruited from Spaced fan communities after the production realised forty stunt performers were inadequate, swelling the horde to over 150 extras plus about fifty child zombies.
Themes
Videos
If you liked this, try…
Or browse the full puzzle archive →