Shaun of the Dead - Definition and Overview

Shaun of the Dead is a zombie themed romantic comedy, or "romzomcom" as it dubs itself, released in 2004 (April 9 in the United Kingdom, September 24 in America). 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.

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)

Trivia

• 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 Wrights 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 and one instance of the word cunt.
• It is never explained what causes the zombie plague, but is hinted at either a: A satellite carrying some sort of zombifying material, or b: some sort of chemical spill. Like the original Dawn of the Dead, it is never fully revealed.
• The game that Shaun and Ed are always playing is called Timesplitters 2. The game does not say "Player x has entered/left the game", this was done for comedic effect.

External links

• Shaun of the Dead website (UK release) (http://uip.co.uk/romzom/)
• Shaun of the Dead website (US release) (http://www.shaunofthedeadmovie.com/)
• Shaun of the Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/) at the Internet Movie Database
• Rotten Tomatoes page (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shaun_of_the_dead/)