Hot Fuzz
Big cops. Small town. Moderate violence.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Production
Budget
$12 000 000
Revenue
$80 600 000
Director
Scenario
Composer
Producer
Tim Bevan
Actors
Simon Pegg
Nicholas Angel
Nick Frost
PC Danny Butterman
Jim Broadbent
Inspector Frank Butterman
Paddy Considine
DS Andy Wainwright
Rafe Spall
DC Andy Cartwright
Kevin Eldon
Sergeant Tony Fisher
Olivia Colman
PC Doris Thatcher
Bill Bailey
Sergeant Turner
Short description
Nicholas Angel is a London police officer whose arrest record so far exceeds that of his colleagues that his superiors arrange a transfer to get him out of the capital. He is sent to Sandford, a small, quiet village where crime appears to be almost nonexistent, and paired with Danny Butterman, a well-meaning but unambitious local constable. When a string of deaths that look like accidents begins to accumulate, Angel becomes convinced that something deliberate is going on beneath the village's peaceful surface.
Edgar Wright directed and co-wrote the film with Simon Pegg, following their earlier collaboration on Shaun of the Dead, and the pair again built the story around Pegg and Nick Frost in the leading roles. Jim Broadbent appears as Inspector Frank Butterman, with Paddy Considine, Rafe Spall and Kevin Eldon among the supporting cast. The production, mounted for about 12 million dollars, went on to take roughly 81 million dollars worldwide.
Reception places it firmly among the more popular entries in Wright's filmography. On IMDb it holds 7.8/10 from around 565,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.6/10 from a much smaller voter base. A critics' rating of 7.7/10 from 203 reviews puts professional opinion in close agreement with the general audience, an unusual alignment for a genre-mixing comedy.
What's left behind the scenes
- The first draft of the script was written in eight months. Then Wright and Pegg immersed themselves in research: they watched 138 police films, which, according to Wright, was very beneficial. The screenwriters also spoke with police officers, taking around fifty interviews; some officers were skeptical, feeling they were being scrutinized, but these interviews led to scenes in the film based on real events (including an escaped swan, an officer buying pies as punishment, and a scene where the 'cops' communicate with a farmer through an interpreter). After completing their research, the screenwriters began writing a second draft, which took nine months; the entire scriptwriting process took eighteen months.
- In one of the film's scenes, a DVD of the film 'Shaun of the Dead' (2004) can be spotted.
- To emphasize how outdated the Sandford police are, the sound of an old 'Apple Macintosh' computer loading can be heard at the police station. These computers stopped being manufactured ten years ago.
- After a screening of the film in Newcastle, answering questions from the audience, Edgar Wright admitted that Peter Jackson and Kate Blanchett played small roles in the film. Jackson played Santa Claus, puncturing Angel’s hand with scissors. Blanchett played Janine, Nick’s ex-girlfriend.
- Specifically for his role, Simon Pegg took a course in handling various types of firearms and also learned how to brake effectively on a bicycle.
- "Somerfield" is a real supermarket chain in Britain. All the scenes in the supermarket were filmed in one of the stores of this chain.
- During filming, Pegg and Frost, in police uniform, were often mistaken for real police officers and questioned about what was happening.
- Simon Pegg lost 13 kilograms specifically for his role.
- Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg decided to make a British police film in the style of American films from the 1970s and 1980s. They believed that very few police films had been made in Britain – mostly detective films focusing on investigation and deduction were released, and there were almost no police action films with elements of violence.
- Throughout the second half of 2005, a search was conducted for a suitable location for filming in the southwest of England. Simon Pegg explained the search for a fitting setting in this region by the fact that he and the director grew up there, it was a kind of return to childhood, a time when action heroes were popular. After several proposed cities were rejected, a decision was made to film the movie in Wells, Somerset, a town of 10,000 inhabitants where Edgar Wright was born and raised. Wright explained this choice by the fact that his hometown is beautiful and has a suitable set of buildings, however, he deliberately changed the town's name to Sandford to avoid negative associations. Despite this, a number of buildings, such as St. Cuthbert's Church, are easily recognizable. Filming also took place at the Hendon Police College.
- Midway through the film, the main character, Nicholas Angel, recounts that his uncle gave him a pedal-powered police car as a child. At the beginning of the film, you can see a childhood photograph of the main character with this car.
- Wright and Pegg created one of the characters specifically for Nick Frost. Pegg noted that it was 'very easy to write for' Frost… 'He has a natural talent.' Frost himself chose the name Danny Butterman for his character, stating that he would only film if his character bore that name (the actor liked it and it 'reminded him of hobbits').
- Edgar Wright has a brother, Oscar. He draws comics. His brother did the animation in Danny Butterman's notebook, and the animation depicted a “bobby” (English policeman) shooting a robber with a pistol.
- In the film, Angel says, “I always wanted to be a policeman, but I changed my mind in the summer of 1979 when I wanted to be Kermit.” In this case, this is a reference to the “Muppet Show” (1976-1981), which featured the character Kermit, who was a frog.
- Throughout the first half of the film, Danny constantly asks Angel silly questions, such as: “Have you ever shot from two hands while jumping?” Angel replies: “No. You’ve watched too many action movies.” However, in the second half of the film, Angel follows all the clichés of the action genre.
- In “Shaun of the Dead” (2004), Ed (Nick Frost) says that he shot his sister in the leg with an air rifle. In this film, Nick Frost's character accidentally shot the doctor in the leg with an air rifle.
- The theatrical production of *Romeo and Juliet* is a reference to Baz Luhrmann’s film. The actors in the theater are wearing exactly the same costumes as in Luhrmann's film. The final song (“Lovefool” by The Cardigans), performed by the theater actors, also appears in the 1996 film.
- When Danny is looking at the DVD of “Police Story 3: Supercop” (1992), he sees Nick running after a thief and throws the DVD back into the basket. If you look closely at the other DVDs in the basket, you can notice a disc with the film “Shaun of the Dead” (2004). However, the title of the film was changed to “Zombie Party.” The film was released under exactly the same title in Spanish cinemas.
- The phrase 'Hot Fuzz' is based on films from the 1980s and 1990s with two-word titles (such as 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Point Break', etc.). Pegg also noted that the creators wanted the title of the future film to be as meaningless as possible.
- Danny Butterman: "Shall I get you anything from the shop?" Nicholas Angel: "Cornetto." The exact same dialogue is spoken by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in the film 'Shaun of the Dead' (2004).
- The station duty officer is reading 'Complicity' by Iain Banks, which deals with brutal murders.
- The film was shot in a small town called Wells, where Edgar Wright himself grew up.
- The phrase “Forget it, Nick… It’s Sanford” is a reference to the final line in the 1974 film *Chinatown*.
- To prepare for filming, Simon Pegg was required to go on a diet and work with three personal trainers, while Nick Frost was supposed to watch about twenty action films, but decided to limit himself to 'Bad Boys II'.
- When Simon Pegg says to Nick Frost, “What, you’ve never cut corners?” — and then jumps over fences, this is a reference to “Shaun of the Dead,” where Pegg says the exact same phrase, but in an attempt to jump over a fence, he falls with it.
- Midway through the film, the characters watch the film «Point Break» (1991) on television, showing a scene where Keanu Reeves' character shoots into the air because he can't shoot a criminal who has become his friend. Later, in the film's finale, Danny Butterman will find himself in exactly the same situation, starting to shoot into the air, unable to bring himself to shoot his father in the back.
- Nicholas Angel received his name in honor of Nick Angel, the chief musical consultant for *Shaun of the Dead*.
- Nick Frost is a fan of the West Ham football club, so he really disliked wearing a Bristol Rovers jersey in the film.
- Two female judges evaluating Sandford for the title of best village were played by Edgar Wright’s and Simon Pegg’s mothers.
- Filming began on March 19, 2006, and lasted for eleven weeks. After Wright edited the film, it became half an hour shorter.
- The shooting period lasted 11 weeks.
- The code to the door of the evidence room is 999. This is also the telephone number for the British police.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
