Edgar Wright has directed several beloved movies spanning multiple genres — but how do his movies rank? The director has ranged from Western to sci-fi and zombies, all of them with his very unique touch of visual comedy. Edgar Wright's next movie following his hit thriller Last Night In Soho is likely another horror piece, as he has several book adaptations in development. Wright’s directorial debut was A Fistful of Fingers in 1995, a low-budget Western spoof about a cowboy looking for the evil man responsible for the death of his horse. The film was never released on home video, making it very hard to find.
Because of this, it’s not surprising that many people think Shaun of the Dead was Wright’s first movie, as it’s also the one that made the rest of the world turn their attention to his work — and it’s the movie that made the Cornetto Trilogy possible. In total, Edgar Wright has directed eight films to date including his plot-hole heavy thriller Last Night in Soho.
With a diverse filmography, albeit a short one, audiences often disagree on which Edgar Wright movie is the best and which one is the worst. Due to its “not commercially available” status, A Fistful of Fingers is not included in this ranking, cutting it to seven movies. Here's every Edgar Wright movie ranked from worst to best, as well as a look at the director's upcoming projects.
7. The World’s End
The third installment in the Cornetto Trilogy, The World’s End is the sci-fi entry of the group and the weakest of the bunch. The Edgar Wright movie was influenced by horror — featuring thematic parallels to classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but with a distinctly sci-fi approach. The film followed Gary King (Simon Pegg) a forty-year-old alcoholic who still has a teenage mentality and struggles to accept that time has passed and people have changed. Gary returns to his hometown to reunite his group of high school friends and go on an epic pub crawl encompassing 12 pubs. Little do they know, an alien invasion is about to get in the way.
The World’s End mixed sci-fi, horror and Wright’s comedy style with a dose of drama that might take some viewers by surprise. But even though it has one of Pegg’s best performances and the action sequences are impressive, it falls flat against the rest of Wright’s works. While certainly not a bad movie that delivers ample action sequences and comedy, The World's End struggles to make use of its stellar cast in a clunky way no other Edgar Wright offering (including his canceled Ant-Man) does to date.
6. Last Night In Soho
Written and directed by Wright, Last Night In Soho follows Eloise Turner (Thomasin McKenzie), who is transported back to 1960s London via a strange dream. Ellie quickly becomes haunted in her waking moments by menacing apparitions that become increasingly violent. As her mental state deteriorates, Eloise must uncover why she has been sent back in time, as well as unmask the spirits that threaten to take her life and sanity simultaneously.
Although certainly a visually sumptuous film, Last Night In Soho is a stark tale of two halves whose initial, ghostly premise quickly devolves into standard period horror fare. Last Night In Soho's initial exposition and the premise is so strong that Wright's film eventually collapses under the weight of its own expectations despite a stellar cast (Last Night In Soho also features the perfect secret cameo). If for no other reason, however, Last Night In Soho is perfectly worth viewing simply for the final career performances of the late Diana Rigg and Margaret Nolan, who both passed away in 2020.
5. Shaun Of The Dead
Shaun of the Dead is the first entry in the Cornetto Trilogy, and the film's merits launched Edgar Wright's career. Wright took zombies and mixed them with comedy without making it a joke, unlike other horror comedies. Shaun of the Dead focused on Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best friend Ed (Nick Frost), who is caught in a sudden zombie apocalypse and has to find a way to get to the safest place in the city: the Winchester, a.k.a. their favorite pub.
Shaun of the Dead mocks the zombie sub-genre, yes – but it’s also an addition to it. It has gore, action, and emotion, with some truly memorable comedy moments, mostly thanks to Pegg and Frost's performances. The writing is clever, like how Ed's speech in Shaun of the Dead sneakily predicts the whole movie. It prepared the ground for the rest of the Easter egg filled Cornetto trilogy and made the Pegg-Frost-Wright team known outside of Europe, opening a lot of doors for them. Shaun of the Dead has reached cult status and has inspired other films around the world meaning it presents in contemporary culture as much more than just a horror-comedy.
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
The most divisive of all Edgar Wright movies, Scott Pilgrim vs the World brought an interesting mix of live-action, graphic novel, and video games that not just any director could get away with. Based on the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, and scored with an iconic soundtrack, Scott Pilgrim vs the World follows 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). What he wasn’t counting on is that he has to defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes in order to be with her.
Again, Wright’s visual comedy shined through in Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and the video game and graphic novel imagery helped translate the vibe of the source material, as well as its sense of humor – which, luckily, is very similar to Wright’s. It’s fast, it’s funny, and it’s also a great (if not the best) example of Wright’s attention to detail, with hidden clues and nods to the graphic novel on almost every scene. Not to mention, Michael Cera was made for the role of Scott Pilgrim (and its alternate ending) complete with self-effacing one-liners galore.
3. Hot Fuzz
The second entry in the Cornetto Trilogy was all about cop movies – and mocking every single trope found in them. Hot Fuzz is a buddy-cop that follows Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) and Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), two police officers trying to solve a series of murders in the small village of Sanford. Nicholas takes his job very, very seriously – Andy not so much. Of course, things take a turn and things get a bit violent, but with some exciting action sequences. It also has Timothy Dalton, for those James Bond fans out there.
As mentioned above, the number 9-laden Hot Fuzz took every trope in cop movies and made fun of them, but also used them to its advantage. The third act could easily be part of any other action movie, although not many of them could add humor so smoothly and effectively as Wright did. In addition to making fun of buddy cop clichés, it also takes some good shots at sexist jokes with Olivia Colman’s character, Doris Thatcher.
2. The Sparks Brothers
The Sparks Brothers marks a departure from Edgar Wright's usual work, arriving in the form of the director's first documentary film. The Sparks Brothers follows the trials and tribulations of Ron and Russell Mael, members of the 1970's pop-rock duo Sparks. The film includes interviews with previous members of the group who worked with the Mael brothers in the various The Sparks Brothers line-ups from the early 1970s until the early 2020s, as well as several short animation sequences to reproduce anecdotes between the musicians during their eventful time in the spotlight together.
Edgar Wright's The Sparks Brothers is an aspirational documentary that consistently hits the high standards it has set for itself. While containing ample references and Easter eggs for long-time Sparks aficionados to pour over and enjoy, the film also acts as a worthy introduction to the band for those unfamiliar with the Mael brothers. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg also dovetail hilariously to recreate interviews with Beatles members John Lennon and Ringo Starr.
1. Baby Driver
Although there’s only a four-year gap between The World’s End and Baby Driver, it felt like a really long time between Edgar Wright movies, with fans anxiously waiting for his next project. The wait finally came to an end in 2017 with Baby Driver, a music and reference heavy action-comedy that followed a young getaway driver named Baby (Ansel Elgort) who accepts one last job so he can finally be free. Baby suffers from tinnitus, so he’s constantly listening to music to make it go away (even if just slightly) – hence why music plays a big role in the story.
The past movies helped establish that what Edgar Wright does best is visual comedy, but Baby Driver was the peak of his visual storytelling style. With his aforementioned attention to detail, is not surprising that Baby Driver’s chase sequences are carefully crafted, and the editing is by far the best of all his movies. Some viewers didn’t like it as much because it didn’t have as many comedy moments as the Cornetto Trilogy and Scott Pilgrim, but it does have some really good jokes among all the action scenes that make it Wright's standout piece of cinema to date.
Upcoming Edgar Wright Projects
Set My Heart To Five - In March 2020, it was announced that Edgar Wright would be directing an adaptation of the book Set My Heart To Five by Simon Stephenson, who will be also writing the screenplay. The film follows an android dentist named Jared in 2054, as he undergoes an emotional awakening after he is introduced to the world of 80s and 90s movies.
Lockwood & Co. - Edgar Wright's newly formed production company (alongside Joe Cornish, Nira Park, and Rachel Prior) Complete Fiction signed a TV deal with Netflix in 2020 to tackle several novel-to-series adaptations for the streaming service. The first of these is Lockwood & Co., which follows three young operatives of a psychic detection agency as they chase and defeat ghosts in contemporary London.
The Murders of Molly Southbourne - Complete Fiction's second ongoing adaptation is The Murders of Molly Southbourne, which follows a young woman afflicted by a mysterious condition. Every time she bleeds, a doppelgänger will grow from her blood and attempt to kill her, meaning Molly must race against herself quite literally in order to ensure her own survival.
The Chain - In June 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that Wright would direct an adaptation of the 2019 novel The Chain by Adrian McKinty for Universal Pictures, with the screenplay written by Jane Goldman. The Chain follows Rachel, a mother targeted by a dangerous group of masterminds who is forced to commit a crime to save her kidnapped daughter or risk losing her forever.
The Running Man - In February 2021, Deadline reported that Wright will adapt Stephen King's The Running Man, which will also serve as a direct remake of the 1987 Paul Michael Glazer version. While the original The Running Man follows the lives and deaths of several dystopian "Runners," Edgar Wright has stated he will reimagine the original film's premise, storyline, and characters to make them more palatable for modern audiences.