The following are excerpts of an interview Deadline recently had with The World's End and Ant-Man director Edgar Wright.
DEADLINE: You had the Hall H crowd at the Marvel panel frothing last year when you took the stage and showed cutting-edge footage of Ant-Man, which Marvel hopes will launch a new superhero franchise. The crowd loved seeing the protagonist going from microscopic to full size. But you pushed that movie and came to San Diego with The World’s End. How did that happen?
WRIGHT: I had a chance to do Ant-Man in 2011. Simon was busy with three franchises, if you count Tin-Tin along with Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. We had the story down and it was in the back of my mind that if we didn’t do this film soon it might never happen, and we owed it to the fans. But then something else happened. [Working Title partner] Eric Fellner was diagnosed with cancer. When I found out about that, I’d literally just finished another screenplay for him and it was on delivery that he told me. He has given me permission to tell this story. That changed everything. Eric was our knight in shining armor on Shaun Of The Dead. That film was in turnaround, developed by Film 4 and they’d gone bust. Lots of other British companies had passed on it. Working Title, ironically the biggest British company, came in and saved the day. He wanted us to do another film together; we’d even done the deal for it. When I found out he was ill, one of many emotions I felt was, if we didn’t make this film, and something terrible happened, I would never forgive myself on not making good on my promise to do it. I wanted Eric to see this movie.
DEADLINE: What did you do?
WRIGHT: Me and Simon began writing it the very next week; in fact, we wrote it in Eric’s office in Beverly Hills. He was having chemo and said, please take my office, do it there. We wanted to make the film anyway, but it became a very personal thing. The happy news is, we’ve made it, he loves it and he’s got a clean bill of health. He came out of that ordeal and went straight into a tough period where he made Les Miserables and our film. It informed the movie script. The film is about regrets and these guys saying, I’ve got to do this thing. That sentiment became personal. To Marvel’s credit, when I went to see them to tell them to their face I wanted to do Ant-Man but that I wasn’t doing it next, Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito said they understood. We’ll see you in a couple years, they said.
DEADLINE: The VFX have probably advanced.
WRIGHT: When people ask what’s the hold-up on Ant-Man, my stock line is I’d rather do it with 2015 visual effects than 2005 visual effects.
How does this reflect who the three of you have become since you were young and making Shaun Of The Dead?
WRIGHT: We did want to do something that reflects we’ve got older. When I watch most man child comedies, some are really good, but others show actors in their 40s who act like they’re 26. They have no significant others and can be the loveable stoners forever. It just feels false. There’s no attempt to go any deeper, there is no price being paid, and all significant others are taken out of the story to make it easier. Here, around the laughter, mayhem and special effects, is a character who’s a little more complex. We had a six-year gap between Hot Fuzz and this. I took my advance in 2007 for The World’s End, when it was first announced in the trades. Hopefully we grew during the time that passed.
Well there you have it. If you would like to read the full interview, click the source link below.