For better or for worse, Shaun of the Dead is one of those rare popular horror movies that never got a sequel. In the years since releasing the iconic zomcom in 2004, director Edgar Wright has teamed back up with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for movies like Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. He’s also directed the 2017 hit Baby Driver and his next flick, the psychological horror film Last Night in Soho, releases later this month on Oct. 29.
Because Shaun of the Dead has so many fans, Wright is consistently asked about the possibility of a sequel. He has never pursued the idea, and he’s opened up on why in a new interview with SFX Magazine. Per GamesRadar, here’s what Wright said when asked why he never made Shaun of the Dead 2 or even another horror-comedy movie.
“I haven’t gone back to horror-comedy, because with Shaun of the Dead I felt like I had said much of what I wanted to say with that movie. It’s difficult to return to that, even as a producer. Sometimes I get sent films — people want to make the next Shaun and want me to come aboard as a producer. But I find it difficult to cover the same territory again.”
The filmmaker goes on to explain that movies take much longer to make than some fans might think. Cranking out something like Shaun of the Dead 2 would take a lot of commitment, and that’s time away from working on a different project that could present new challenges for Wright to take on. As he says:
“The thing is that films take so long to make. I think that’s the thing that fans don’t quite understand sometimes. They’ll say, ‘Why don’t you knock out a Shaun sequel?’ It’s like, these films take three years to make, you’ve got to really, really love it to do it. So because films take longer to make, trying to challenge yourself with a different subject matter or something you haven’t done before, it’s always the real motivator.”
In other words, don’t hold your breath on Shaun of the Dead 2. You can, however, catch Edgar Wright’s new film Last Night in Soho when it premieres on Oct. 29; watch the official trailer below!
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