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Why Shaun Of The Dead 2 & Hot Fuzz 2 Will Never Happen Explained By Simon Pegg-TGN

Summary

  • Simon Pegg shuts down requests for sequels to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, emphasizing the need for new and challenging ideas instead.

  • Pegg believes that audiences embracing familiarity and wanting the same thing again is a lazy impulse.

  • Pegg and Edgar Wright will still collaborate on a new project outside of the Cornetto trilogy, potentially exploring a different genre and tone.

Simon Pegg explains why sequels to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz will never happen. The English actor starred in and co-wrote all three installments of Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy – which includes Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End. In Shaun of the Dead, Pegg plays the titular electronics salesman whose directionless life is disrupted by the zombie apocalypse, and in Hot Fuzz, he plays a police constable tasked with solving a string of grisly murders. Both movies, which are comedic in tone, were critical and commercial successes.

Audiences have long requested sequels to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, though Pegg has shut the door many times. During an interview with Discussing Film prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the actor elaborated on why those sequels will never happen. Though he is flattered by the requests, the star says that instead of follow-ups to familiar films, what audiences really need to see is new and challenging ideas. Read Pegg’s full explanation below:

At the risk of disappointing people, we get a lot of requests to “sequalize” all three of those movies. I feel like it’s a lazy impulse for people to embrace familiarity and just accept the same thing again. I’m very flattered by it, and it’s never anything but edifying to be to have people say, “Oh, we would love to see more.” I get that! But what we really need is new stuff. We need new ideas. We need to be challenged. You know, my favorite of the Cornetto trilogy is The World’s End because it’s the least audience friendly. It’s the darkest of the three. It’s the most challenging, and I love the idea of actually putting the audience in a position where they have to feel a little bit uncomfortable and not necessarily cozy into the familiar. So whatever we do next, it’ll be difficult that’s for sure.

Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright Will Still Collaborate Again

Though Simon Pegg is seemingly ruling out the possibility of sequels to Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, he and Edgar Wright will still collaborate on another project. Their first collaboration came on the cult TV show Spaced, and their careers have been close-knit ever since. In fact, in the same interview, Simon Pegg teased a new movie with Edgar Wright and confirmed it will be “outside of the Cornetto trilogy.” Though the anthology series doesn’t share a storyline, it’s named after its repeated references to Cornetto ice cream cones and shares similar themes regarding relationships.

Each installment in the Cornetto trilogy is basically a buddy comedy set within an existing genre – zombie apocalypse, police procedural, and alien invasion. They also share themes about “the collective versus the individual,” according to Pegg. However, based on his comments, it sounds like his next collaboration with Wright will be something totally different with new and challenging ideas, and might not even be a comedy at all. Given their success with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, it will be interesting to see what the duo does next, whenever their schedules align.