Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I somehow made my way into Hall H which is becoming more and more insane every year by the way... It feels like next year it'll be easier to get into The White House.
But obligatory “Fuck Hall H” intro aside, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright came out to a packed house of screaming fans. Nostalgic old man moment: I remember their Shaun of the Dead panel in Ballroom 20 and while there were devoted fans there, it's really nice to see just how much their star has risen as a collective. When you get 7,000 people blasting the roof off the joint just at the sight of Nick Frost something has gone extremely right in this world.
In a different, but welcome move, Edgar and team didn't show any new footage because they want people to go in as cold as possible... that's risky if you're most people, but Simon, Nick and Edgar have such a laid back, naturally funny chemistry that I think if there were any people in the hall on the fence they've been charmed into seeing the movie.
I took some notes of the stand out moments from the panel. Enjoy!
- “If you've ever watched Dr. Who and thought it would be funnier if the Doctor got hammered, then this is the movie for you. We're going to change the title to Dr. Hooch.” - Edgar. “Our TARDIS is beer.” - Simon
- Origins of the Cornetto being included in Shaun of the Dead. Edgar was hungover in college, ate a Cornetto on a Sunday morning (Strawberry) and felt better, so that's why Ed wants a Cornetto Sunday morning in Shaun. “Not medically proven.” - Edgar.
- The flavors of the Cornettos were actually purposefully chosen. Strawberry for Shaun (Blood), Blue Cornetoo for Hot Fuzz (cops) and Mint (Green) for The World's End (alien robots).
- Nick Frost says breaking wind has international appeal. He's not wrong.
- Is this the last time all of them will work together? Nope. Simon said the Cornetto trilogy is all about friendship and growing up, all set in the UK and about one versus many. Future films from Edgar, Simon and Nick will happen, just not set up with those same general rules.
- They would have kept the sci-fi elements secret if they could have, but the marketing world makes it impossible. Hence why they didn't want to bring any sequences.
- Simon keeps dropping the titles of his movies during the panel to hear the audience cheering. Star Trek, Mission Impossible, good response. Ice Age: Continental Drift didn't get much reaction, sadly.
- Nick sprinkles his “fairy dust” on the script post Edgar/Simon first draft. Nick interjects: “It's actually dandruff.”
- Can we turn the new film into a drinking game? Simon: “If you want to die, yeah.”
- Simon dubs the fights “Pub-fu.”
- Nick Frost's character has been nicknamed “The Pink Hulk.”
- Slow zoom becomes an in-joke. Simon points out that as he talks about his most difficult scene to shoot in the Cornetto trilogy (shooting his mum in Shaun) the Hall H camera pushes in on him, like it's a big dramatic scene. Edgar and Nick offer comfort as Simon hams it up. Edgar calls back to it when describing his difficult shooting schedule, overly dramatic pauses, push in. Hall H in hysterics.
- More Spaced? Simon gives a nice, emotional answer about not wanting to spoil what came before, that they wanted to do a third series at one point, but the time has passed. Nick says “what they're overlooking is that they can't fucking afford me now.”
I love these guys. Got Riddick, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, RoboCop and some other surprises hitting today. Keep your eyes peeled!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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