Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and the gang are reunited one last time for The World's End, the final instalment of the so-called 'Cornetto Trilogy' of films.
Following on from zombie romp Shaun of the Dead and countryside caper Hot Fuzz, the new movie sees a group of friends (Pegg, Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan) reunite to take on a pub crawl they famously failed as kids. As they move from venue to venue however, it starts to become clear that the town has been taken over by robots.
Please note that all times in this live blog are Pacific, which is eight hours behind the UK and three hours behind the East Coast.
Hello and welcome to the start of the day two here at Comic-Con. Just in the nick of time I've managed to make it into Hall H for our first panel today, The World's End.
I started queueing at 5am this morning and literally just made it in. There are tens of thousands of people waiting outside and understandably so given the lineup in Hall H today - the Veronica Mars movie, Kick-Ass 2, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
We start with a trailer for The World's End, which you can view below:
The moderator for this panel is Chris Hardwick of The Talking Dead. Always a funny guy and an excellent choice to host this.
We're watching a VT bringing together clips from the Cornetto Trilogy at large.
Out come Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in time with their names appearing on screen at the end of the VT.
Hardwick says the film feels like it has a Doctor Who vibe to it. Wright: "If you've ever watched Doctor Who and thought it would be funnier if the Doctor was hammered, then this is the movie for you. We should rename it Doctor Hooch."
Pegg: "[My character] Gary's a bit of a dick. He's the villain of the film as much as he is the hero. There's a dark truth that explains his dickishness somewhat. His friends have all moved on and he's trying to drag them back."
Did they consciously try to mix up their characters in each of the three films? Frost: "I didn't want people to think oh there's the stoned idiot again. It's great that I got the chance to be an angry buttoned-down hardnut."
Wright is explaining the origins of the Cornetto trilogy. It's a thrilling anecdote of him being hungover one Sunday at uni and fancying a Cornetto.
As for the three cornettos, strawberry for the first film represented blood, then blue for the police and then green for aliens.
I quite fancy a Cornetto now actually.
Weird to work on films with other people after being together so long? Frost: "Sometimes you forget breaking wind isn't funny to everyone." Pegg: "It's nice to go away and do other stuff. This film is about friends reuniting and we three haven't done anything together for a while. We all came back together and it was like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers."
Frost: "It's like having a brief love affair and then coming back to your marriage and it's stronger."
Could there be more films? Pegg: "The reason we call these films is a trilogy is they all have criteria - they are all set in the UK, they're all now and they're about one person facing off. So the next thing we do together could be set somewhere else, but these three are very much together. It's a boxset basically."
Have they talked about what they're doing next? Wright: "I'm doing a spinoff Antman film, a buddy comedy film about two buddies, Abdoman and the Mighty Thorax. In 3D."
Pegg: "We're not due to have our next real idea until about four weeks' time."
Wright: "We wanted to do a film that starts off as a reunion comedy, and not really connecting with the hometown, but then discovering there is an otherworldly reason for this."
Audience Q&A time. Why so long between films? Frost: "It's nice to wait, then you won't get bored with seeing us doing the same thing all the time. You'll see us every six years and it'll be a nice treat."
Who do they find funny? Pegg: "We've been watching a lot of Lonely Island clips recently." Wright: "Parks and Recreation is an amazing show." Pegg: "I've been enjoying a lot of Modern Family on QANTAS." Wright: "I watched a hilarious thing on the flight called The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler. Great character." Frost: "A bit far-fetched, though."
Pegg is explaining that the script is locked down and there's not much room for improv. "We're very anal, basically."
A lady covered in badges from head to toe steps up to ask a question but instead is ridiculed about her badges. She eventually forgets her question and is ridiculed again. "Imagine a button and on that button there is a question," says Frost. "I'm sure you've got a Keep Calm And Carry On button somewhere," adds Hardwick.
Lady: "Actually my question is for none of you on stage." Pegg: "Fuck you, Buttons."
Her question is actually about Martin Freeman's availability. Wright: "While he was shooting this, he did two months, left to go to New Zealand and did a worldwide press tour for The Hobbit, then came back to set the next day to finish his scenes off."
What has been the most challenging scene for them? Pegg: "The fight scenes took days and days to shoot. We basically devised a new martial art called pub-fu. I broke my hand. I did six more takes on it after that because Edgar hadn't got the shot yet."
Pegg: "I had to have a temporary cast on it during the rest of the shoot. Pretty cool."
There's a bit of Film Studies type analysis of the themes of the three films going on, I will spare you it.
Favourite role and movie. Wright: "I couldn't pick between the three and stuff. We only finished the film three weeks ago so I still get a kick out of watching it."
Pegg: "Gary for me, I'm not just saying it because it's the last one. He's a challenge because he isn't immediately likeable - he's a manipulator and a fool."
Will they ever revisit Spaced? Wright: "I don't think we will. One of the things about Spaced is about the joys of being young. I want to leave them 26 forever." Pegg: "I worry we'd retroactively spoil what we did. We wanted to do a third series back in the day but it didn't work out. It was no-one's fault, just timing. I don't think it's going to happen again."
Extended clip reel from all three films.
Are they worried about it being too British? Wright: "We just want to teach you Americans some nice new British swear words."
Button lady has returned. She wants to know about The Death of Superman short. Frost: "I think button lady would actually be bulletproof as well." Wright: "Let's make a film now - Machete versus Button Lady."
What kind of beers would they like on a pub crawl? Wright: "If anything, the movie puts you off beer. I'm going to be a complete fop and say a red wine."
A Spaced superfan comes up and goes to ask a question but gets too nervous and forgets her question. Wright just starts talking about the latest film again anyway.
Collectively, how many Cornettos have they eaten? Frost: "Since this morning?!"
That's a wrap on this panel! Thanks for joining me. Up next is the panel for the Veronica Mars movie and you can find my coverage of that right here.
Written by
Neil Wilkes
Neil Wilkes
Follow us on Bluesky or on X/Twitter and like us on Facebook for the latest entertainment news alerts.
Media Mole's Lowest Ever Sky Offer: Get Sky Essential, Sky Stream & Netflix for just £15 a month + £0 upfront fee for 24 months!
Prices may change during this period. Ends March 19, 2025
