Why a Shaun of the Dead reboot would “incense” Simon Pegg

Before Simon Pegg was Tom Cruise’s right hand man in Mission Impossible he was known for his British comedy hits.

Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End are called The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy due to their repeated references about the ice cream.

And like with any cult classic there are calls for sequels and reboots, especially with Shaun of the Dead marking its twentieth birthday this year.

But Pegg, who wrote the film with director Edgar Wright, said the pair would be “incensed”.

The actor told The Hollywood Reporter that the zombie comedy, Shaun of the Dead, is “an incredibly personal” movie.

“There is so much of us in that film,” he added.

“The whole thing with Shaun’s mum, the stepdad, I had a problematic relationship with my stepfather. It was Edgar’s idea to kill the mum. I couldn’t believe it when he said that, but it was the best decision. There’s so much of our own heart and soul in that film.

“If someone was to reboot it, it would be a cynical and exploitative exercise. I would hope that people are in love with our Shaun enough to resist a reboot.”

Pegg said he was annoyed by Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake even though it was a “great movie”.

“I hated the fact they called it Dawn of the Dead, because that was George Romero’s film. They could have called it Deadish, which was a great line in the film that one of the actors used, and it still would have been a great film, but when you just take a title because people recognize it, it’s so disrespectful to the original,” he added.

The actor also appeared to rule out a Shaun of the Dead sequel, saying there just “wasn’t a story to tell” and “some stories end”.

“If you were to see Shaun again, if the zombies came back, there’s just not a story to tell it.”

But the creative partnership between Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright continues, with Pegg saying there is “something always in the works”.

Though Pegg admits it is unlikely they will be working together anytime soon: “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.”