Shaun of the Dead(2004)

R
Rated R for zombie violence/gore and language
1h 39m
- Comedy
- Horror

Release Date: Sep 24, 2004 | Moderate

The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.

Official Website

Note: Distributed by Rogue Pictures

Releases

Original Release | Sep 24, 2004

2024 Re-release (Focus Features) | Aug 30, 2024

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Box Office Results

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$14,332,569
Total International
$17,174,928
Total Worldwide:
$31,508,087

Total US & Canada:
$13,542,874
Total International
$16,496,518
Total Worldwide:
$30,039,392

Current Showtimes

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Director & Top Cast

Edgar Wright
Director

Nicola Cunningham
Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital EX,DTS-ES

Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United Kingdom,France,United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

In Crouch End, London, electronics salesman Shaun (Simon Pegg) has no direction in his life. His colleagues disrespect him (Specifically Noel (Rafe Spall) who takes calls etc. even while Shaun is giving them instructions for the day), he does not get on with his stepfather Philip (Bill Nighy) (whom he sees only once every 2 months when he visits his mother), and his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) (she doesn't like Shaun's roommate Ed and she doesn't like coming to same pub day after day) (Shaun says he doesn't like her friends Dianne (Lucy Davis) & David (Dylan Moran) either), unhappy they spend every evening at his local pub, the Winchester.There is news of a US space probe returning to Earth and breaking up over UK in a populated area. Through the day, Shaun sees people dropping in the streets, military coming out in full force and news reports of an epidemic, even as he goes about his normal day.Shaun had promised to take Liz to dinner at a nice restaurant, but despite several reminders, he has forgotten to book a table. Backup plan is to eat again at the Winchester, and Liz bangs the phone on him. Shuan rushes to Liz's place with flowers (that he bought for his mother), but Dianne won't let him in. Liz breaks up with Shaun saying that he hasn't changed enough. After the break-up, Shaun drowns his sorrows there with his housemate and best friend Ed (Nick Frost). Ed encourages Shaun to look at life beyond Liz.At home, their 3rd housemate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz), complaining of a bite wound from a mugger, berates Shaun to get his life together. Pete also hates Ed and his disgusting habits. Ed came to their house 5 years ago and never really left. He doesn't even pay rent. Pete thinks Shaun keeps Ed around since it is comforting to have someone who is a bigger loser than oneself.By morning, a zombie apocalypse has overwhelmed London, but Shaun and Ed are slow to notice (Shaun goes all the way to the local grocer to buy a coke and a Cornetto, but doesn't notice any of the tell-tale signs of zombies all around him) until they encounter two zombies in their garden and kill them with blows to the head (They finally hear on the news that the best way to kill zombies is to cut their head or to destroy their brains) (it spreads by biting, and Pete was bitten just last night). They form a plan to rescue Shaun's mother, Barbara (Penelope Wilton) (who had called and informed Shaun that while she is not bitten, but Philip has been), and Liz, then wait out the crisis in the Winchester (Shaun wanted to wait it out at Liz's but Ed wanted to be somewhere familiar and where he is allowed to smoke). when Shaun goes to pee, he finds Pete in the shower, turned into a zombie already. Meanwhile the recent dead are returning to life and climbing out of their graves.They escape in Pete's car, and pick up Barbara and Philip, who has been bitten just as they were about to escape from the house (Ed crashes Pete's car, so he gets to drive Barbara's Jag), then Liz and her friends Dianne and David. David is not very supportive, but Dianne agrees with Shaun. Liz is a bit speechless to see this new avatar of Shaun. They all squeeze into the jag. Philip (who has a mutual hatred for Shaun) makes peace with Shaun before turning into a zombie.The group abandons the vehicle (when they trap Philip inside it) and continues on foot, evading zombies. They run into a similar group led by Shaun's neighbor Yvonne (Jessica Stevenson), who is surprised to see Shaun is heading to the pub. They seek refuge inside the Winchester (their path was blocked by a lot of zombies and Shaun gets their group to impersonate the zombies to fool them and get in. Ed messes things up when he gets a call right when the group is stuck outside the pub as the doors are closed. Shaun berates Ed as he always sticks his neck out for him), where Shaun discovers that the Winchester rifle above the bar is functional. Shaun turns the lights back on, but Ed attracts zombie attention by playing a rather loud slot machine. The gang prepares for war.Barbara reveals she has been bitten and turns Undead after giving Liz and Shaun her blessing. David wants to shoot Barbara and Shaun says that David hates him and always had a thing for Liz. Dianne confirms that David only hangs out with her to be close to Liz. Shaun, distraught, is forced to shoot Barbara. Zombies break into the pub. David is disemboweled, and an enraged Dianne grabs David's leg and rushes into the horde.The Zombified Pete reached Winchester with the rest of the zombie crowd & bites Ed, after which Shaun shoots Pete and sets fire to the bar. The fire sets off the rifle ammunition while Shaun, Liz, and Ed flee into the cellar, where they contemplate suicide. Ed volunteers to stay behind with the rifle while Shaun and Liz escape through a hatch that opens to the street. The Army arrives and guns down the remaining zombies.Six months after the outbreak, civilization has returned to normal, and surviving zombies are used as cheap labor and entertainment. Liz has moved in with Shaun, while Shaun keeps the zombie Ed tethered in his shed, where they play video games together.

Storyline

Shaun (Simon Pegg) doesn't have a very good day, so he decides to turn his life around by getting his ex to take him back, but he times it for right in the middle of what may be a zombie apocalypse. But for him, it's an opportunity to show everyone he knows how useful he is by saving them all. All he has to do is survive, and get his ex back. — Infest0125 Stuck in a state of perpetual uneventfulness, Shaun knows he is treading water. And as he whiles away the time playing video games and downing pints at the neighbourhood's pub with best friend and roommate Ed, Shaun is letting his girlfriend Liz slip away. As if that weren't enough, there's something strange going on in North London--an unexplained plague threatens to take over Britain from end to end. For the first time in a long while, Shaun will have to rise to the occasion and do the impossible: risk life and limb to rescue Liz and his mother, navigate through the town's zombie-infested roads, and then hole up in the Winchester, the safest place he knows, until it's all over. How hard could that be? — Nick Riganas Shaun's humdrum existence takes a turn for the interesting when the undead take over london. Leaping into action, Shaun gathers his loved ones in the safest place he knows. Shaun, his mum and her boyfriend, his girlfriend, Liz, and his flatmates Ed and Pete fight off a fate worse than death from the local pub. Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a twenty-nine-year-old with no real ambition in life, much to the consternation of his friends, family, and fed-up girlfriend. With only a loyalty to his lazy best friend Ed (Nick Frost), a dead-end job where his employees step on him, and the good-ol' days, Shaun isn't exactly putting his best foot forward. But when the flesh-hungry undead start to rise in large numbers around modern-day London, Shaun must come to the rescue of his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) and mother Barbara (Dame Penelope Wilton) before all hell breaks loose. With loyal Ed at his side to fight the good fight, the two will have to pave their way through zombie-ridden London as Shaun must take on the first real challenge in his life, with comical results. — mystic80 1 more All