Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy
Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy | |
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Cover of The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy DVD box set | |
Directed by | Edgar Wright |
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Music by |
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Running time | 329 minutes |
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Language | English |
Budget | $38 million |
Box office | $156.7 million |
The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (also known as the Cornetto trilogy or the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy)[1][2] is a series of British comedic genre films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simon Pegg, produced by Nira Park, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The trilogy consists of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013).
The name originates from a "silly joke" during the promotion of Hot Fuzz.[3] Wright had written in Cornetto ice cream as a hangover cure for Frost's character in Shaun of the Dead, based on his own experiences. In Hot Fuzz, Wright included a couple of brief throwaway scenes that referred to the Cornetto joke in Shaun. On the promotional tour of Hot Fuzz during production of The World's End, one interviewer pointed out the use of Cornetto in the first two films, and Wright jokingly said that they represent a trilogy comparable to Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colours film trilogy.[4][5][6]
Wright seriously considered the three films as a trilogy, and wrote The World's End to complete themes set out in the earlier films, adding a Cornetto reference to the film. Each film in the trilogy is connected to a specific Cornetto flavour appearing in each film.[2][7] Shaun of the Dead features a strawberry-flavoured Cornetto, which signifies the film's bloody and gory elements,[8] Hot Fuzz includes the blue original Cornetto, to signify the police element to the film,[9] and The World's End features the green mint chocolate chip flavour (though only shown by a wrapper caught in the wind) representing "little green men" and science fiction.[10] According to Wright, Wall's, manufacturer of the Cornetto, were "very pleased with the namecheck".[11]
Wright considered each of the films a "Trojan horse", "genre films that have a relationship comedy smuggled inside a zombie movie, a cop movie and a sci-fi movie".[3] Thematically, Wright saw each of the films containing common themes of "the individuals in a collective [...] about growing up and [...] about the dangers of perpetual adolescence".[3] Wright reworked the script of The World's End to conclude on these themes.[3] The films are further linked by a common set of actors. Wright, Park, Pegg, and Frost collaborated previously in the TV series Spaced from 1999 to 2001. Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Rafe Spall, Julia Deakin, Patricia Franklin, and Garth Jennings appear in each of the films as well as other projects by Wright and Pegg. Clark Collis observes in Entertainment Weekly that the films also feature "a running gag involving garden fences".[5]
Films
Shaun of the Dead
The first film is Shaun of the Dead, a 2004 romantic zombie comedy film (or "rom-zom-com"). The film stars Simon Pegg with Nick Frost. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to gain focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather in the midst of an apocalyptic uprising of zombies.[12]
The trilogy's Cornetto reference begins with a scene in which Shaun buys a cone for his friend Ed (Frost) at his request as Ed wakes up groggy and badly hung over after a night of drinking. Director Edgar Wright has said that he used to use Cornettos as a hangover cure.[13]
Hot Fuzz
The second entry is Hot Fuzz, a 2007 buddy cop comedy. The film stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two police officers who investigate a series of mysterious deaths in a small English village. The two officers purchase Cornetto cones at a convenience store at various times, and a scrap of the wrapper falls onto the counter when Pegg's character later makes other purchases at a motorway service station.
The World's End
The third and final installment is The World's End, a 2013 science fiction apocalyptic comedy. The film follows a group of friends, led by Simon Pegg, reattempting an epic pub crawl during an alien occupation of their home town. In the final scene of the film, a Cornetto wrapper blows past in a breeze, briefly catching on a wire fence.
Wright said in an interview for Entertainment Weekly, "We thought it would be a funny idea to do a sci-fi film where even the people who are going to be your saviors are hammered."[5]
Recurring cast
Actor/actress | Movies | ||
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Shaun of the Dead (2004) |
Hot Fuzz (2007) |
The World's End (2013) | |
Simon Pegg | Shaun | Sgt. Nicolas Angel | Gary King |
Nick Frost | Ed | PC Danny Butterman | Andy Knightley |
Julia Deakin | Mother of Yvonne | Mary Porter | B&B Landlady |
Martin Freeman | Declan | Met Sgt. | Oliver Chamberlain |
Bill Nighy | Phillip | Met Ch Inp. | The Network |
Rafe Spall | Noel | DC Andy Cartwright | House Buyer |
Patricia Franklin | Spinster | Annette Roper | Upstairs Beehive Lady |
Reece Shearsmith | Mark | Collaborator | |
Michael Smiley | Tyres | Rev. Green | |
Peter Serafinowicz | Pete | Ding Dong Home Owner | |
Nicola Cunningham | Mary | Patient | |
David Bradley | Arthur Webley | Basil | |
Paddy Considine | DS Andy Wainwright | Steven Prince | |
Alice Lowe | Tina | House Buyer | |
Discussing The World's End, Wright said that any actor who appeared in the first two films would also appear in the third, adding, "We even got back Nicola Cunningham, who played Mary the zombie in Shaun of the Dead. And Mark Donovan, so the first two zombies from Shaun of the Dead are in this. The twins are in it."[14]
Reception
Box office
Film | Release Date | Budget | Box office | Ref(s) |
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Shaun of the Dead | 9 April 2004 | $6,000,000 | $30,039,392 | [15] |
Hot Fuzz | 14 February 2007 | $12,000,000 | $80,736,657 | [16] |
The World's End | 19 July 2013 | $20,000,000 | $46,089,287 | [17][18] |
Total | $38,000,000 | $156,865,336 |
Critical response
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
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Shaun of the Dead | 92% (201 reviews)[19] | 76 (34 reviews)[20] |
Hot Fuzz | 91% (199 reviews)[21] | 81 (37 reviews)[22] |
The World's End | 89% (218 reviews)[23] | 81 (45 reviews)[24] |
References
- ↑ Edward Douglas (16 April 2007). "EXCL: The Guys of Hot Fuzz!". Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- 1 2 "Hot Fuzz duo confirm third movie". BBC News. 3 April 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
- 1 2 3 4 Howell, Peter (23 August 2013). "Edgar Wright: Crawling toward the apocalypse, and a sweet finish". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
- ↑ Elisabeth Rappe (3 April 2008). "Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg going to The World's End". cinematical.com. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- 1 2 3 Collis, Clark (30 August 2013). "3 Blokes. 3 Films. Many, Many Laughs". Entertainment Weekly: 46–47.
- ↑ "The World's End - The Origins of the Cornetto Trilogy". IGN. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ↑ "Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost Might Finally Finish Up Their Ice Cream Trilogy". I Watch Stuff. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
- ↑ Shaun of the Dead DVD commentary
- ↑ Hot Fuzz DVD commentary
- ↑ "World's End panel SDCC 2013". YouTube. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ↑ Huddleston, Tom (9 July 2013). "Edgar Wright: 'I can't watch zombie movies'". Time Out. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ↑ J.C. Maçek III (15 June 2012). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters.
- ↑ The World's End - The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy on YouTube
- ↑ "13 Things We Learned on the Set of The World's End – IGN". Uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
- ↑ "Shaun of the Dead Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ↑ "Hot Fuzz Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ↑ Collins, Andrew (19 July 2013). "Simon Pegg: The World's End is $4 million shy of double what Hot Fuzz cost". Radio Times. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
- ↑ "The World's End Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- ↑ "Shaun of the Dead (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ↑ Shaun of the Dead at Metacritic
- ↑ "Hot Fuzz (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
- ↑ Hot Fuzz at Metacritic
- ↑ "The World's End (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
- ↑ The World's End at Metacritic
External links
- Shaun of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
- Hot Fuzz at the Internet Movie Database
- The World's End at the Internet Movie Database