You asked, and now our guest editor Edgar Wright is answering. Will you ever do TV again? Where did Jason Schwartzman's mole disappear to on the Scott Pilgrim DVD cover? Who's funnier Nick or Simon?
Here's a video clip of him answering a few of your questions, in the flesh. Sorry we couldn't include them all in the clip — but here are all of the answers he gave.
What part of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel did you want to include in the film that you couldn't because Bryan Lee O'Malley was still writing the script?
There's nothing really that I missed too much because the script and the books were kind of developed in tandem. We would be developing as Bryan was writing the books. But they became two different things quite early on, because we knew that we had to condense the time line of the books. So we always saw the film as a bizarro/alternate reality version of Scott Pilgrim. There are great sequences in the books that would have been interesting to see on film, but not with the kind of budget that we had [Laughs]. And not with the length of time that we had. But there are some things that work better on the page...There are a couple elements from the last book that would have been interesting, but I'm not unhappy with what we did.
What was the one scene that you had to cut from the film that you are most excited for people to see on the DVD?
I think there are a lot of things that people will find interesting. Usually things that have been deleted have been deleted for a reason, so there's nothing that I necessarily missed... it becomes a different film. If I was being super, super indulgent I would probably play all of the songs at full length. So at least you get to see those on the DVD in their entirety. Because I think the songs are great and something like the "Black Sheep" song, it's nice to hear the whole thing.
Are you going to ever work with Bryan lee O'Malley on anything again?
I don't know. I think sort of, Bryan is kind of figuring out what he wants to do next... I think the two of us are kind of in recovery, post-film/post-books. I just saw him, I was just in Toronto doing press for the Blu-Ray, and we went to this screening of the film at the Bloor which was absolutely bananas. I'm so glad we did it because it kind of felt strangely like having a ten-year anniversary screening three months after it came out, people in costume and shouting along. I think Bryan was quite shell-shocked by it as well. It was good fun. He's kind of keeping quiet about what he's doing next, and we'll see. I'd definitely work with him again, because he's a great collaborator and I think we got on well.
Who is your favorite Scott Pilgrim universe character?
It's difficult to pick one. I guess everybody loves Wallace Wells, so he's pretty amazing. In terms of the character that I sympathize with the most, it's for better or for worse Scott Pilgrim. It's funny sometimes people say, "Don't you think Scott Pilgrim is a jerk sometimes?" And my answer is, "Don't you feel that when you were younger, you were a jerk sometimes?" And I certainly see the things that he does in the books and the films and I think, yeah I was like that once, maybe I was like that this week.
Why is Gideon [Jason Schwartzman] missing a mole on the cover of the Scott Pilgrim DVD?
I know! Somebody pointed that out to me, that Jason is missing his mole, we now decided that the reason he's missing his mole is because it's too sexy and the Wal-Mart wouldn't stock it because it was too sexy. That's not true.
So many of your movies utilize foreshadowing. For example in Shaun of the Dead Nick's character is told to "go live in the shed," and then later he is seen living in a shed. How often does that happen while shooting, or is this all planned out?
That particular type of foreshadowing, that comes in the writing. I love doing that, Scott Pilgrim, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz all have that kind of dialog, language and metaphors that foreshadow later events... I think we just try and rehearse a lot so the dialog feels natural. On the three films I've done I don't really do a great deal of improvising, it's pretty much set in stone. But we do rehearse a lot.
Who are the early filmmakers that influenced your work?
Alfred Hitchcock and Sergio Leone and Louis Benoit is a pretty good threesome straight away. Hitchcock is always amazing because, there are some directors who are storytellers who don't make their presence felt, and can tell a story and get great performances and the hand of the maker is not necessarily evident. Hitchcock, I think, was probably one of the first people who you felt was really kind of fucking with the audience. He was in control and he was some evil puppeteer. I love his films and I love the way that he is constantly toying with the audience and the form. Just lots of really clever ways of wrong-footing you and distracting you. He's known as being the master of suspense but he was also a really funny director as well. He was one of the first directors I could see having real fun with the form.
What is your favorite movie this year, besides Scott Pilgrim?
There's been a couple. I liked The Social Network. I liked Black Swan, Enter the Void, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours. There's a whole bunch of ones actually and it's not over yet, either.
Do you have any plans to direct a TV series or mini-series?
Maybe, if it was the right thing. I've been watching a lot of TV, catching up on lots of stuff that I missed whilst I was working. I've been watching a lot of Eastbound & Down. I watch all the comedy shows, 30 Rock I love. Maybe if it was the right thing. I'm really enjoying The Walking Dead so far, so maybe, if it was the right thing.
Who is funnier Nick Frost or Simon Pegg?
I think even Simon would agree that Nick is probably the funniest person that either of us have met. Nick Frost is a funny boy.
Video by John Siegel.