Focus Features Celebrates 15th Anniversary With Halloween Showing Of Edgar Wright’s SHAUN OF THE DEAD At The Greek Theatre

Focus Features’ 15th anniversary celebration pulled out all the stops on Thursday night at LA’s Greek Theatre with a fantastic party and screening of the Edgar Wright-Simon Pegg horror-comedy classic SHAUN OF THE DEAD.

Billed as a “rom zom com” (romantic zombie comedy), the film follows the bloody funny adventures of underachiever Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best mate Ed (Nick Frost) as they cope with a zombie invasion of North London and attempt to rescue Shaun’s girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) and his Mum, Barbara (Penelope Wilton).

Thousands of fans, including BABY DRIVER co-star Jon Hamm, enjoyed the red-themed activities including a photo op, scary makeup applications, a character costume contest and dozens of zombies roaming the venue to frighten and entertain partygoers “like a drunk who’s lost a bet.”

After leading the audience in a zombiefied version of the THX sound effect, Wright and SHAUN co-star Lucy Davis, the scene-stealer in WONDER WOMAN, welcomed the crowd with memories of the production and expressed gratitude that their little English film has stood the test of time.

Wright recalled a veteran actor mistaking him for a production assistant and telling him “It’s straight to video for this one.”

Wright also praised the zombie extras for persevering through night shoots during which all they did was mill around outside the Winchester Pub waiting for their chance to break in. When they finally got their chance, one overzealous extra bit the director!

Co-writer and star Simon Pegg appeared in a hilarious video to thank the fans despite him not earning any money from the event.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD is the first part of Wright and Pegg’s Three Colors Cornetto Trilogy which continued with HOT FUZZ and THE WORLD’S END.

Hosted by Fandango’s Alicia Malone, fans received a special Shaun of the Dead t-shirt!

Contributed by Gary Salem and Melissa Thompson