Hollywood A-listers Simon Pegg and Martin Freeman braved the Wellington rain to walk the red carpet at the premiere of The World’s End alongside plenty of familiar faces from the Hobbit films yesterday.
The pair, who star in the movie, were joined by co-star Nick Frost, and Sir Peter Jackson, Benedict Cumberbatch and James Nesbitt.
The World’s End is the third film in what is known as the Cornetto trilogy, and is directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Pegg.
The sci-fi action comedy follows Pegg and his band of five mates as they set out on a pub crawl in their small English hometown, but stumble into a battle for the survival of mankind.
The film, released in New Zealand on Thursday, is the third from the trio after they worked on Shaun of the Dead in 2004 and Hot Fuzz in 2007.
It tells the story of Pegg’s character Gary King, a 40-something fed up with his dull life who decides to reunite his teenage mates. The film has so far received solid reviews after its premiere in London last week.
Director Edgar Wright said they had only touched down in Wellington two hours before hitting the red carpet.
“Simon and I are both hoping the sound effects from the film can keep us awake. We’re only here for 24 hours so have to maximise our time in Wellington.” Frost said it had been great fun to play the “straight man” to Pegg’s character Gary.
“The films have grown up as we have I think. I didn’t have to fanny about on set and I got to be angry all the time.
“I was a bit of a stoned loafer in the first and a bit of an idiot in the second so this is a nice bit of difference.”
Despite the film centering around a pub crawl, Frost said he much preferred to “get in a pub and stay in a pub”.
“I prefer to let the pub crawl around me.”
Pegg hoped the similarities between him and his “slightly pathetic” character Gary were kept to a minimum.
“We’ve all got a Gary in our lives.
“If you don’t know Gary then you are Gary, and that’s dangerous. Gary’s stuck in the past and that’s a bad place to be.”
Now a teetotaller, Pegg said “the whole film is a lie” as he had not had a drink for some time, although had shared a few beers with his co-stars over the years.
“But the best pub crawls are the ones you don’t remember.”
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