Edgar Wright And Simon Pegg Talk The World’s End And Social Science Fiction
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Aside from the news that The World’s End has been greenlit, there hasn’t been much in the way of details about the latest team up from Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. The film is purportedly the third in a loose trilogy that started with Shaun of the Dead, their homage to zombie movies, and continued with Hot Fuzz, their take on adrenaline-fueled action. The question has been what variety of film The World’s End would take aim at, and now it looks like they’re targeting science fiction.
Talking to Empire, Wright says, “It’s a sci-fi comedy.” Pegg is quick to point out that their film is “social science fiction.” If you Wikipedia that term, as the duo suggest you do, you’ll find out that social sci-fi revolves less around technology and space and more on the direction of society. It’s an amalgam of speculative fiction and anthropology. I always think of the classic dystopian novels like Brave New World and 1984, but the subgenre cuts a wide swath subject wise.
I’m curious how these elements will mesh with the rest of the plot description. The story involves a group of long time friends on an epic pub-crawl. They try to get through twelve pubs—the final one is called The World’s End—as “a cataclysmic, possibly apocalyptic event, rages around them.”
Wright says, “This is as much about where you grew up as the people you grew up with…it’s also very silly. I would say it’s darker, more personal and more silly.”
That sounds nicely in line with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Both have light and fluffy moments coupled with serious darkness. That is the real pleasure of those films, that they function as satire and parody, but at the same time they’re great additions to the genre. Shaun may be a romantic comedy, but it also has everything you want out of a legit zombie movie, and Hot Fuzz is a kickass action film even with all of the ridiculous bits.
Wright and Pegg have an obvious affection and affinity for genres they pick, and they do something new and fun within the existing confines. I can’t wait to see their take on science fiction.
