Edgar Wright’s *Shaun of the Dead* celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. For fans hoping for a follow-up, however, those hopes will have to remain just that. While promoting his upcoming film *The Running Man*, Polygon asked the British filmmaker if he had ever considered making a second *Shaun of the Dead* film. Wright politely declined the idea, explaining that he and longtime creative partner Simon Pegg don’t feel there’s any more story left to tell with Shaun’s adventures.
In Wright’s view, many sequels “don’t really earn their keep because all the story has been told in the first movie.” He elaborated: “Shaun goes 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.”
Looking at Wright’s filmography, it’s clear he’s not particularly a sequel-oriented director. The closest examples are his loosely connected *Cornetto* trilogy and, debatably, *Scott Pilgrim Takes Off*. Meanwhile, the zombie genre itself has seen numerous continuations. *The Walking Dead* has spawned multiple spinoffs and sequel series over the years, and *Zombieland*—a film often compared to *Shaun of the Dead*—became a mini-franchise with a sequel film in 2019 and a TV spinoff.
We’ve also grown accustomed to decades-later sequels appearing seemingly out of nowhere, with Disney leading the charge in recent years. But when it comes to *Shaun of the Dead*, Wright said he has “not recently” been approached about a sequel and is completely fine with that.
Simon Pegg shares this sentiment. In May, he stated that the film should be left alone entirely, effectively quashing any reboot rumors. For Pegg, Shaun’s story wrapped up neatly at the film’s end, and a sequel risks diluting the original. He explained, “A second [movie] 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.”
That said, Pegg and Wright have previously joked about sequels where the characters fight vampires in Edinburgh or explore alternate universes. These remain fun thought exercises but, clearly, both creators are content leaving those ideas as just that—in their heads.
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https://gizmodo.com/dont-expect-a-shaun-of-the-dead-sequel-says-edgar-wright-2000680447