When Shaun of the Dead was released in 2004, it was a surprise commercial success, both in the UK and overseas. With a budget of just over $6 million, Edgar Wright’s debut film grossed over $30 million worldwide and was a huge hit on DVD. Rather than film a supposed sequel, Wright teamed up with co-writer and star Simon Pegg to make Warm fuzzwhat would make for a buddy cop action movie what Shaun of the dead made for zombie movies. Once again, Nick Frost would co-star, in this story of a super cop who is relocated to a sleepy rural town that ends up being a hotbed of crime and corruption. Wright’s conception of the film called for American action movie-style sets, but the idea was also to make the film distinctly British, with Wright assembling a who’s who of British icons, including the former star of The equalizer and The wicker man, Edward Woodward, Jim Broadbent and, in a huge casting stunt, former James Bond Timothy Dalton, who would play the film’s main villain. Continuing the 007 connections, they also recruited franchise composer David Arnold to write the score.
As Shaun of the Dead, Warm fuzz would be a significant hit, earning $80 million on a modest budget that was between $12 and $16 million. It was large enough for Pegg and Wright to complete their Cornetto with Three Flavors trilogy with The World’s End. In this episode of Revisited, written by Cody Hamman, editing by Juan Jimenez and narrated by Travis Hopson, we dig into this comedy classic.
