Peter Jackson Discusses The World’s End With Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, And Nick Frost
We’re just about a month away from the U.S. release of The World’s End. If you believe Simon Pegg, the third and final installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto (Blood and Ice Cream) trilogy will be “a much bigger proposition than the other two films” — those being Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. While the Hall H panel for The World’s End at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con isn’t until tomorrow, you can check out the very insightful 20-minute chat above, between director Edgar Wright, actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and, because why not, The Hobbit‘s Peter Jackson. Don’t let the length of the video chase you off; it’s definitely worth watching if you’re a fan of any of these guys.
The four film nerds talk about the grueling 12-week production of The World’s End, and how it’s a more thoughtful and mature movie than the first two films of the trilogy, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. According to early reviews of the social science fiction film, The World’s End centers on themes of aging, nostalgia, and returning home. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out when the film opens in the States this August.
At first glance, Jackson might seem like an odd addition to the World’s End trio, but he has been friends with Wright for some time. Jackson first met Wright during the production of Jackson’s King Kong remake in 2005. Jackson even has a cameo appearance in Hot Fuzz, playing the deranged Father Christmas who stabs police officer Nicholas Angel (Pegg) through the hand at the very beginning of the film. The pair also collaborated on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in 2011. Wright co-wrote that film’s screenplay with Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), while Peter Jackson was one of the film’s producers, along with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy.
In The World’s End, Gary King (Pegg) is a 40-year-old man who refuses to act his age. He assembles his childhood friends to complete The Golden Mile, a failed pub-crawl from their youth. As they start at the first pub, The First Post, and make their way to the last pub, The World’s End, they soon learn of the killer alien robot invasion that has taken over their once quiet town of Newton Haven. King and his friends must now defend their hometown, while at the same time finishing The Golden Mile pub-crawl.
The World’s End also features Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike, Eddie Marsan, David Bradley, and Paddy Considine. Pegg co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Edgar Wright, while Wright also directed.
If you’re in San Diego for Comic-Con this year, there’s a free special screening of The World’s End if you complete a scavenger hunt in the Gaslamp District, located near the Convention Center. The special screening will take place after The World’s End panel in Hall H tomorrow (Friday), July 19. Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost will all be on hand to represent The World’s End during the the Universal Studios and Focus Features panel.
The World’s End will hit theaters in the U.S. on August 23. Here’s Peter Jackson’s appearance in Hot Fuzz:
