Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright wrote and directed Shaun of the Dead, a 2004 British zombie comedy film. It follows Shaun (Pegg) and his best friend Ed (Frost) as they try to save Shaun's friends and family during a zombie outbreak in London. The film was a critical and commercial success, costing $6.1 million to make and earning over $30 million worldwide. It received numerous award nominations and wins for its script and comedy.

1. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Case Study
Summary
‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a British comedy film that was produced in 2004 by Working Titles
Films. It was directed by Edgar Wright, written by both Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and
produced by Nira Park. It starred British actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the roles of
Shaun and Ed respectively. Furthermore actors such as Bill Nighy, Peter Serafinowicz, Kate
Ashfield, Dylan Moran and Lucy Davis play various secondary characters alongside the
numerous minor support actors in various roles such as the zombies for example.
Pegg and Frost worked together on this film for the first time and it was the first movie of
the “Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy” of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The Worlds End.
Edgar Wright directed all three (with the duo as its stars) and wrote them with Pegg.
Actors
Simon Pegg plays one of the protagonists in all three of the aforementioned movies with
other works such as Sci-Fi hit Paul which he also co-wrote. He often works with fellow actor
and long-time friend Nick Frost and has done since their first joint venture in the form of the
television program Spaced which he wrote himself, creating the character of Mike Watt
specifically for Frost. He played the title role of Shaun in Shaun of the Dead and has an
atypical happy ending with all issues resolved yet his best friend turned into a zombie. He
has won several awards and has begun to star in Hollywood blockbusters such as Mission
Impossible and Star Trek.
Nick Frost is a long-time friend of Pegg’s and is the other main protagonist of the ‘cornetto
trilogy’ and Paul. He played Ed in Shaun of the Dead and meets a semi tragic end when he
becomes a zombie to save Shaun.
Peter Serafinowicz played the grumpy flat mate of Ed and Shaun, Pete.
Kate Ashfield played Shaun’s disgruntled love interest in Shaun of the Dead.
Irish comedian Dylan Moran played the bitter, jealous friend of Liz.
The renowned actor Bill Nighy also featured in the movie as Shaun’s distant, standoffish
stepfather.
Characters
Shaun is the title charcter of the movie played by Simon Pegg and one of the two main
protagonists. He is a 29 year old electronics salesman that is struggling with work, his
stepfather, his flatmate and his girlfriend. When the zombie apocalypse occurs he sets out
with Ed to save his friends.

2. Ed is Shaun’s vulgar, unemployed best friend played by Nick Frost and the other main
protagonist of the story. He spends his days playing video games at home, irritating Shauns
flatmate Pete and seemingly has no aspirations. He joins Shaun on his quest to save his
friends.
Liz is Shaun’s disgruntled, unhappy girlfriend that isn’t satisfied with her relationship due to
Ed and her flatmates always tagging along on their disappointing dates at Shaun’s favourite
pub the Winchester.
Pete is Shaun’s irritated flatmate who intensely dislikes Ed and resents his presence. He is
the first encounter the duo has with a zombie in the opening scene of the movie.
Plot
Shaun is a 29 year old who works in an electronics store as a salesman whose workmates
disrespect him. He has family troubles in the form of his estranged stepfather and his
flatmate dislikes his best friend Ed, a vulgar, unemployed man of a similar age.to make
matters worse he is also having troubles with his disgruntled girlfriend, irritated at the fact
that Shaun always takes her to his favourite pub as opposed to a real date and forces her to
bring her two friends along due to Ed tagging along every time as he constantly offers false
platitudes in regards to him changing. This is the equilibrium of the story.
One night upon returning home from a rough day at work Shaun realises he forgot to book a
table at the restaurant he promised to take Liz to that evening. This results in a breakup and
Shaun gets drunk and goes to bed miserable, only to wake up to the zombie apocalypse the
next morning.
Naturally Shaun doesn’t realise this until he and Ed are attacked by their turned flatmate
Pete and two more zombies in the garden. Upon this realisation they set out to save Shaun’s
family and friends, particularly Liz and his mother.
They succeed, picking up his mother Barbara and his bitten stepfather before going on to
save Liz and her flatmates, Dianne and David. Soon his stepfather begins to succumb to his
bite wounds and thus makes peace with Shaun before turning. The surviving group makes it
to the Winchester pub and Shaun’s mother also reveals that she was bitten and Shaun is
forced to kill her when she turns. Zombies then attack in hordes, dragging David through a
window and killing Dianne in her attempt to save him. Ed is bitten by the zombified Pete and
they kill Pete and set fire to the bar before fleeing to the cellar where they begin to
contemplate suicide. They discover an elevator hatch through which Liz and Shaun escape
while Ed remains behind to hold back the horde. Liz and Shaun escape to the surface and
are rescued by the British Army.
Six months later Shaun and Liz have reconciled and moved in together whilst Shaun keeps
the zombie Ed tethered to the shed so they can still play video games together.

3. Expenditure
The movie cost a total of 6.1 million dollars total to produce and distribute both nationally
across the US and internationally to Europe and the United Kingdom for example; appearing
in 366 theatres across the United States on its opening weekend which would have been
extremely expensive.
Profits
United Kingdom
Shaun of the Dead made 1.6 million pounds on its opening weekend (almost a third of its
expenditure made back in two days) and then went on to make a further 4.6 million by mid
May.
United States of America
In the US the movie made an astonishing $3.3 million on release despite is relatively limited
release to only 607 theatres.
World Wide
Since its release to now Shaun of the Dead has made a box office total of $30,039,392
globally. This means it has made a profit of around 24 million dollars.
Critical Reception
Shaun of the Dead was extremely well received by both critics and the public with a score of
92% on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 7.8 out of 10, on Metacritic it has a
relatively high score of 76 out of 100 and Petr Bradshaw gave it a four out of five, describing
it as being “pacily directed and nicely acted” and stating that it “boasts a script crammed
with real gags”.
Awards
 Rated third best comedy of all time in a Chanel 4 poll
 Ranked as the 49th greatest film British of all time by Total Film magazine
 Won Best Horror at the Saturn awards
 Won Best Screenplay at the Bram Stoker awards
 Won Best British Film at the Empire awards
 Won Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film awards
 Nominated for multiple other awards