We take the zombie craze for granted now because the subgenre has been so dominant in the last 20 years.  So it’s easy to forget that in the early 2000s there was something of a “perfect storm” that would set the stage for it to come. This came in the form of 2002’s 28 Days Later, and the double whammy that was 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake (written by James Gunn and directed by Zack Snyder) and the satire Shaun of the Dead (directed by Edgar Wright).

The latter truly captivated audiences, not just because it was a hilarious movie, but because it had heart, much more than you’d expect from a traditional parody.  The result was a movie that was equal parts hilarious, heartfelt, and horrifying.  So in honor of its 20th anniversary (of its original UK release), we thought it would be fitting to look at 20 fun facts about Shaun of the Dead!

1. According to Simon Pegg (who also co-write the script with director Edgar Wright), the decision to keep the zombies slow instead of fast (as they were in the Dawn of the Dead remake) was that “death is not an energy drink”.

2. The initial idea for the movie came from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s sci-fi sitcom Spaced.  There was an episode which featured Pegg’s character high on amphetamines and playing “Resident Evil 2”.

3. Pegg and Wright spent 18 months pitching the project to various studios, however many passed it over because they deemed it too scary to be a comedy and too funny to be horror.

4. Simon Pegg had been offered a role in the 2002 werewolf movie Dog Soldiers, but turned it down to this movie instead.

5. Jim Broadbent was offered an undisclosed role (most likely Shaun’s stepfather Philip) but turned it down.  He would come to regret turning it down, which is why he appeared in their next film Hot Fuzz.

6. Helen Mirren was offered the role of Shaun’s mother Barbara.  However, she turned it down, stating that she wanted to play “a funnier character”.

7. All of the TV news anchors in the film were real news presenters playing themselves.

8. The iconic Winchester Pub featured in the movie was actually the Duke of Albany Pub.  After being featured in the movie, it permanently closed in 2005, and was converted into residential housing in 2009.

9. The movie never actually reveals the cause of the zombie outbreak.  Just as the news reporter is about to say it at the end, Shaun changes the channel, thus leaving it a mystery to the audience.

10. When Ed is on the phone with Shawn’s mother (named Barbara) he tells her “we’re coming to get you Barbara”, which was a nod to that iconic line in the original Night of the Living Dead.  According to George A. Romero, when he saw the movie the first time, he missed that reference to his own film.

11. As an inside gag and attention to detail, most of the background extras who appear early in the movie, come back later as zombies.

12. The film was shot over a period of 9 weeks in May-July 2003.  Mostly in the Crouch End neighborhood of London. The very same neighborhood that Stephen King once got lost in and wrote a short story about, called “Crouch End”.

13. Bobby Olivier, a writer for Billboard magazine, claimed that the movie led to a resurgence in Queen music, specifically “Don’t Stop Me Now”, which plays on the jukebox in the Winchester pub scene.

14. Zombie godfather himself George A. Romero loved the film so much that gave Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright cameos as zombies in his 2005 film Land of the Dead.

15. Shaun of the Dead was a moderate box office success, grossing $38.7 million on a $6 million budget. It would then become a massive cult hit.

16. In 2011, Shaun of the Dead was voted the 2nd favorite movie of all time by BBC Radio 1 listeners in a poll.  It was only behind The Shawshank Redemption in 1st place.

17. Shaun of the Dead remains the first of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s “Cornetto Trilogy”.  This was based on Cornetto ice cream, which came in three flavors or colors: red, blue, and green.  Shaun of the Dead represents red (blood), Hot Fuzz represents blue (police), and The World’s End represents green (aliens).

18. Initially, there were ideas to do a sequel, although nothing ever went beyond the basic idea stage.  In the commentary on the movie, Simon Pegg joked that it would be called “From Dusk Till Shaun”, a reference to the 1996 vampire movie From Dusk Till Dawn.

19. Universal distributed the film in the US, but since they were also distributing the Dawn of the Dead remake, they insisted that they wouldn’t market the film until 2 weeks after Dawn of the Dead came out (March 19, 2004).

20. Shaun of the Dead won numerous awards including Best Screenplay (British Independent Film Awards and Bram Stoker Awards), Best British Film (Empire Awards), Best Horror Film (Saturn Awards), and nominated for many more.

Which of these did you already know?  Which ones surprised you?  Let us know in the comments!

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