Making You Scream for Ice Cream

When writing THE WORLD'S END together, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright were always conscious of engaging the viewer. Pegg comments, "Edgar and I love giving the audience clues about where the plot might be about to go, and possible connections to make and subtleties to pick up on. There's bits and bobs that we've put in, and we like setting up things that will pay off later on in the story. It makes the movie feel more interactive and enjoyable. We take the audience, and their intelligence, seriously."

Producer Eric Fellner assesses THE WORLD'S END as having "very tight, very funny writing, and I'd say that it's more sophisticated than their earlier scripts.

"Audience members will be able to enjoy this film even if they don't know the earlier movies, or the genre inspirations. But those who get the nods and winks will enjoy themselves too, which I know is a major factor in why people are loyal to this team."

Longtime fans of the team's work will be inclined to classify the new movie as the third in what Pegg refers to as the "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy" and Wright refers to as the "Three Flavours: Cornetto" trilogy. "Cineaste that he is, Edgar prefers to call it that," says Pegg. "Respect, to Krzysztof Kieslowski and his 'Three Colors' trilogy.

"Edgar put a Cornetto [a beloved U.K. brand of ice cream] in SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and we did it a little more prominently in HOT FUZZ to be self-referential."

Wright confides, "The appearance of the Cornetto ice cream in SHAUN OF THE DEAD is because it was a hangover cure for me college and because it seemed like a funny thing for Nick Frost's character to want on a Sunday morning.

"It's popped up again because we had gotten free Cornettos at the SHAUN OF THE DEAD premiere, so we thought if we wrote Cornetto into HOT FUZZ, then we would get them at that premiere as well. For some reason we did not, and I felt let down by the lack of free ice cream but by that point it was too late."

Pegg continues, "So we suddenly had this linking factor in the two films. We felt obliged that there be a Cornetto reference in THE WORLD'S END. It is a throwaway, but we hope the fans appreciate it."

Nick Frost remarks, "Simon, Edgar, Nira [Park], and myself certainly keep one eye out for the fans. They share our comedy sensibilities and our love of genre films and men fighting. After all, when you go into a pub like we do in all three of these movies, you're constantly reassessing the threat of violence.

"Also, where's the exit? What if there's a fire? What crisps are on offer?"