Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a zombie-themed romantic comedy, or "romzomcom" as it dubs itself, released in 2004 (9 April in the United Kingdom, 24 September in the USA). It was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, directed by Edgar Wright, and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Despite the title—a pun on George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and the name of the lead character—it is not a horror-spoof in the style of the Scary Movie films. Rather, it is an affectionate tribute to the genre of zombie horror, with many background references to classic zombie films.
The production was filmed entirely in London, primarily at Ealing Studios, and involved production companies Working Title Films and StudioCanal.
In its opening weekend in the US, Shaun earned US$3.3M, taking 8th place at the box office despite a limited release to only 607 theatres (compared to the usual 2000-3000 for other top 10 entries). In the UK it took in £1.6M at 307 cinemas on its opening weekend and netted £6.4M by mid-May. The film's tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign billed it as a "rom-zom-com", short for "romantic zombie comedy".
In 2004 the magazine Total Film named Shaun of the Dead the 49th greatest British film of all time.
Cast
- Simon Pegg .... Shaun
- Nick Frost .... Ed
- Kate Ashfield .... Liz
- Dylan Moran .... David
- Lucy Davis .... Dianne
- Bill Nighy .... Philip
- Peter Serafinowicz .... Pete
- Penelope Wilton .... Barbara
- Jeremy Thompson .... Newsreader (Himself)
- Mark Donovan .... Hulking Zombie
Trivia
- The cast and crew of 16 Days were mostly recruited from the set of the film.
- The film was originally inspired by a short sequence in the sitcom Spaced (also directed by Edgar Wright), in which Tim (Simon Pegg) blasted several zombies with a shotgun in a Resident Evil fantasy induced by speed and Twiglets.
- In keeping with Pegg and Wright's adoration of the genre and films in general there are many in-jokes and references to other films including character names, scenes and snippets of dialogue.
- The film received a 15 certificate in the UK despite the gore, violence, the use of the word fuck some 77 times in 99 minutes, one instance of the word cunt, and one of the word nigga.
- It is never explained what causes the zombie plague, but hints throughout the film suggest various causes, including a satellite burning up in the atmosphere, a chemical spill and GM crops (most are explanations used in other zombie films). As in the original Dawn of the Dead, the zombies' true origins are never revealed, though a news broadcast at the end of the film is heard debunking the theory of a virus transmitted by monkeys (a reference to 28 Days Later).
- The game that Shaun and Ed are always playing is called TimeSplitters 2 (which, incidentally, features zombies in several of its levels). The "Player x has entered/left the game" messages are voiced by Peter Serafinowicz; they're not actually in the game and were added for comedic effect.
- Many details (the landlord's names, the quiz, the "Breville out back") of the Winchester are based on the Shepherds, a real pub once frequented by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (and mentioned briefly in the film). The pair were regular attendees of the Shepherds' quiz night, under the team name Q.W.A or Quizzers With Attitude (also briefly mentioned in the film), and their next project is a television series about a pub quiz team, titled La Triviata. The Winchester takes its name from the rifle, which was used in Night of the Living Dead.
- Both the main cast and numerous cameo appearances are drawn from contemporary British comedy:
- Nick Frost (Ed) was Simon Pegg's real-life flatmate, and played Mike in Spaced.
- Dylan Moran (David) is the co-writer and star of Black Books.
- Lucy Davis (Dianne) played Dawn in The Office.
- Peter Serafinowicz (Pete) is known for a number of series including Hardware, World of Pub and two guest appearances on Spaced. He is most famous for being the voice of Darth Maul.
- Jessica Stevenson, co-star and co-writer of Spaced, plays Shaun's friend Yvonne; her group of survivors is made up of Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), Tamsin Greig (Black Books, Green Wing), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), Julia Deakin (also of Spaced) and Matt Lucas (Little Britain).
- Television and radio voices provided by David Walliams (Little Britain), Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen), Julia Davis (Nighty Night) and Rob Brydon (Human Remains).
- Rafe Spall (Shaun's co-worker Noel) is the son of Timothy Spall.
- Uncredited zombie cameos include Paul Kaye (Dennis Pennis), Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith (music video and Hitchhiker's Guide directors) and Michael Smiley (Tyres in Spaced). Many other celebrities are rumoured to be among the zombies, including Lucy Akhurst and Bill Bailey.
- Leadman Chris Martin and guitarist Jon Buckland of Coldplay appear briefly as themselves.