It’s now 15 years since the world’s first zom-rom-com, Shaun Of The Dead, premiered in London, marking the beginning of what would become the Blood & Ice-Cream Trilogy, AKA Three Colours Cornetto.
All three of Edgar Wright’s films Shaun, Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World’s End (2013) have something in common: they’re not only clever, extremely British genre pastiches starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, but also include an appearance from the delicious conical ice cream treat.
And now we know why.
It all started with the strawberry Cornetto Shaun fetches for Ed from the shop at the beginning of the movie…
…which Ed then eats as the extent of Britain’s zombie epidemic is revealed by the TV news.
Wright noted the anniversary and said that the afterparty was one of his favourite ones ever… partially because the Cornettos were flowing as free and fast as the booze.
Also: at the after party they gave out free Strawberry Cornettos (as featured in the movie) so me and Simon contrived to mention Cornettos in the next one as a way of getting more free ice cream next time around… (we didn’t)
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) March 30, 2019
So there you go. The “three colours” bit is a shout out to famous arthouse director Krzysztof Kieślowski – but the Cornetto part was literally just a cheap attempt at a snack-based scam.
We did get some for The World's End though… 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) March 30, 2019
It’s a perfectly cheeky backstory to one of the most iconic dessert-based running gags in cinema.
I think I love the Cornetto Trilogy even more now that I know it was all a free ice scheme. https://t.co/BDVk7I4dnd
— Tom Jorgensen (@Tom_Jorgensen) March 30, 2019