It’s been 21 years since Edgar Wright’s loving homage to zombie movies Shaun of the Dead, which launched both the filmmakers career and that of his frequent on-screen collaborators Simon Pegg (who also co-wrote the script) and Nick Frost. So in an era when Hollywood seems dead set on rebooting anything and everything — and given the positive response to Danny Boyle’s recent zombie sequel 28 Years Later — is Wright considering a Shaun of the Dead revival?
In an interview for his new dystopian blockbuster The Running Man (more on that soon in another article), Wright tells Polygon bluntly that there are still no plans for Shaun of the Dead 2.
When I bring up the question, Wright reveals that he’s been fending off requests since the very beginning. After Shaun of the Dead‘s release, the studio immediately asked for a sequel, instead of the director’s proposed follow-up, Hot Fuzz. He declined.
“We weren’t really interested in doing it because we didn’t think there was any more story to tell,” Wright says.
The reason why is simple: Shaun of the Dead isn’t a franchise designed to keep churning out sequels. It’s a self-contained story that could only be cheapened by going back to that particular well.
“There are a lot of franchises where the sequels don’t really earn their keep because all the story has been told in the first movie,” Wright says. “When a character has gone through a massive change, it’s very difficult to have a second installment. Shaun of the Dead has him going from being a kind of sad sack to being a hero by the end of the movie. So it’s very difficult to start the next movie when there’s no obvious arc. We are very happy with it being a one and done.”
Earlier this year, Pegg offered a similar explanation when asked about a Shaun of the Dead sequel in a Reddit AMA:
I think it’s best left alone. I don’t think there’s any point in rebooting it. Some stories just have a beginning, middle and end. And the trouble with sequels sometimes, is that you have to undo the resolution of the original film in order to start another story. And with films like Mission: Impossible, or the kind of superhero genre, or Star Trek, it works because it’s a continuing adventure. But with Shaun of the Dead, Shaun has an arc that he starts somewhere and ends somewhere. And we’re happy with the way that ends. And I that think sometimes, when you sequelize a film like that, you can end up spoiling the original, because when you watch the original again, you’re thinking, “Well they’re gonna go through this other thing”. The resolution stops having any meaning. So, no, is the answer to that question!
As for whether Wright is still fending off sequel requests from Hollywood executives, when I ask if he still gets pressured to make a Shaun of the Dead 2 he responds: “Not recently.”
The Running Man releases in theaters on Nov. 14. Shaun of the Dead is streaming on Peacock now.
