It took nearly two hours to get from my apartment in Queens to the New York City Police Museum in lower Manhattan. But seeing as I was about to hang out with Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright, I would've gladly waited longer. Apparently, Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were all gathering at the museum for some sort of press conference later that afternoon -- so, when I arrived, I was ushered into a back room where two folding chairs were waiting. It took me a minute, but when I finally decided to look around I realized I was in the "gun room." Yes, I was surrounded by over 150 different guns. On top of that, several tourists -- there to visit the museum -- were shuffling about, leaving Wright and I somewhat awkwardly stuffed in the middle of it all.

If you don't know who Edgar Wright is, then I suggest doing some research. One of the hottest up-and-coming directors in the UK, Wright -- along with his partner-in-crime Simon Pegg -- are responsible for the hit show Spaced, as well as one of the best horror-comedies in recent memory, Shaun of the Dead. For Hot Fuzz, Wright once again teams up with Pegg and Frost for another genre satire; this time, they're going after those big-budgeted action flicks like Point Break and Bad Boys II. I spoke with Wright about the film, the cast and the comedy. Is Hot Fuzz part of a trilogy? When will Wright cross the pond and direct a Hollywood film? Read on to find out ...

Cinematical: Who did you make this film for? Fans of Shaun of the Dead? Fans of Jerry Bruckheimer? Fans of Michael Bay? None of the above?

Edgar Wright: Well generally, what you have to do with films is you have to make them for yourself. You kind of have to imagine yourself as the target audience, and I think if you try to imagine what might go down well then it could turn out to be a disaster -- you might not end up pleasing anyone. So the only thing you can do is approach every decision and every element at that level ... and see how it goes.

Cinematical: Personally, I think Shaun of the Dead is one of the best horror-comedies of all time ... and I know a lot of people feel the same way. So, going into Hot Fuzz was there any pressure to provide fans with a film that's as good or better than Shaun of the Dead?

EW: Well, you always want to do more good work. In a way, there's a very similar sense of humor -- you know, we first saw Hot Fuzz as a bit of a departure, really. We got so many offers to do another horror film; even do a sequel to Shaun. But we didn't want to do that, so we needed to find a way to do a different kind of story ... and this kind of basic premise is something we've wanted to do for awhile.

Cinematical: You grew up a fan of action films, and there are a lot of popular action flicks that you pay homage to in Hot Fuzz --

EW: And it's also worth pointing out that I grew up in the town where we shot. And back then, watching Dirty Harry on TV as a kid was as alien as watching sci-fi ...

[Edgar turns toward the tourists snapping pictures of us]

EW: ... these people think we're part of the exhibit.

Cinematical: [laughs] I have to say, it is one of the most bizarre interview places I've ever encountered. But all these guns make it that much cooler.

EW: [laughs] Exactly!

Cinematical: In the film, you kind of zero in on two popular action flicks: Point Break and Bad Boys II. I have to know, why Bad Boys II, and not the original Bad Boys?

EW: Well, basically, both of those films -- I mean, with Bad Boys II ... I can't even remember what happened in Bad Boys I, and the second film was so action packed. I think we picked those two because both for me seemed like the absolute pinnacle -- and I say this as a compliment -- of dumb, popcorn films. And there's nothing really wrong with that; they're just kind of fun films. And certainly one of them has quite a bit of homoerotic content, which was another reason why since it tied in with Hot Fuzz. Basically, they're both sort of unpretentious, kind of undemanding but spectacular films. So we thought those two would be Danny's (Nick Frost) favorite films. And I loved the idea that Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) had never seen a cop film -- and that's his breaking in. Imagine if the first cop film you ever saw was Bad Boys II? That would be totally amazing. The idea also is that when they watch it, they fall asleep during Bad Boys II. And from that point on in the film, Angel becomes more of a badass. So we loved the idea that Michael Bay would be kind of permeating his conscious -- and from that point on the film becomes different.

Cinematical: Yes, exactly! That was actually my next question: At times, Hot Fuzz really does feel like two different films. The first half is sort of this murder mystery, and then it becomes a balls-to-the-wall action flick. Were those your original intentions when you were writing it?

EW: Yeah, well hopefully -- it's sort of like a game of two hands, but there's this build going on between the two. I don't think it's like From Dusk Till Dawn; how that film does a complete tonal switch. We tried to do it so the sense that something is about to kick off is building throughout. Early on, we kind of knew how far we wanted to take it in the climax. So, the rest of it is about bringing it all together.

Cinematical: Looking at the cast, it's like an all-star team of British talent. How did you get everyone to come onboard?

EW: Well, initially you have ideas for people. Some you know, and some actually asked to be involved. Like Jim Broadbent and Paddy Considine were both big fans of Shaun of the Dead. So when they say to you, 'We loved Shaun, we'd love to work with you some day,' you kind of keep that in the back of your mind. And you write parts for people. And pretty much everyone else were people on our hit list -- all of our dream choices -- so once one or two people said yes, they all did. It was a great ensemble.

Cinematical: And was there any additional pressure placed on you once you arrived on set with your dream cast?

EW: Yeah, well obviously when you first start working with them you get kind of star-struck. Then after that, it's just ... pretty amazing. The greatest part of it for me was working with both older and younger generations together in the same scene. And that's where I think it gets really exciting, because you've got these young comic actors like Nick Frost in the same scene with Jim Broadbent. Then Simon [Pegg] and Bill Nighy together. That was special ... and hey, then the Kevin Bacon game becomes a lot easier after Hot Fuzz -- know what I mean? [laughs]

Cinematical: Definitely. Now, as a director, both Shaun and Fuzz share a similar style in that you utilize a lot of the same techniques -- the super fast cuts, etc ... -- in both films. Is that something that's exclusive to these two films, or will you carry that on and continue to evolve it?

EW: In a way, Hot Fuzz feels like -- definitely not the end of that style -- but because of the genre it was in, I felt like I had complete permission to go completely over-the-top with it. It's a style I sort of established with Spaced and Shaun, and I thought with this I could go completely 200% -- so the next project might not be like that. And with Shaun of the Dead, that had a lot of long, steady-cam shots -- it was much more in the moment, kind of creepy, doomy horror. Whereas this one is aggressive and over-caffeinated, so it felt right to go insane ... especially during the last half.

Cinematical: I know, at times, you pay homage to certain directors like Brian DePalma, Michael Bay, etc ... Is that something you're all aware of going in. Or, with a film like this, does it sort of happen by accident?

EW: I think, for me, it was just an overall vibe. Sure, there were certain scenes where we wanted to get specific, like with the Bad Boys II stuff in the middle. And there's definitely stuff in there that feels like Tony Scott, Michael Mann, John Woo and Brian DePalma ... but I think it goes hand-in-hand with doing genre stuff; you kind of get jazzed and excited about fulfilling your childhood ambitions, ya know?

Cinematical: I know there's talk about this being part of a trilogy now, along with Shaun of the Dead ...

EW: Yeah, a blood and ice cream trilogy ...

Cinematical: Ha, so what's the story with that?

EW: Ya know, I think people put the two together and say, 'Oh, so you're going to keep doing these types of films?" And in a weird way, when we first started on Hot Fuzz -- like I said before regarding expectations -- we saw the film as being a complete departure. Ya know, Shaun of the Dead is much more like Spaced, the TV show, because they're both about slackers. But Nicholas Angel is not a slacker. So I suppose the linking thing -- apart from the blood and the ice cream -- is just the fact that they're genre films in the UK. And that's what we're interested in -- we're interested in making films in the UK that no one else makes. And there isn't this tradition of genre films anymore, with a couple of unique exceptions.

Cinematical: And so you'll do a third film along those same lines?

EW: I'm sure it will have genre elements, because I think those are the things that interest us and that's what we're interested in doing in the UK.

Cinematical: And so what's the genre? Will you go sci-fi? Or, I know one of your first films was a western?

EW: Yeah yeah, I won't do another western. I already f**ked that up.

Cinematical: So sci-fi might be a consideration?

EW: Maybe ... you know it sort of has to come from the story first. We don't pick a genre and then work it out from there. It sort of comes from the story first, and then we work around that.

Cinematical: I heard you're also working on a film with Mike White right now called Them. What's up with that?

EW: Yeah, it had to be put on the back-burner a little bit, because he was making his own directorial debut. But that's just one of two or three things I'm in development with -- it's still too early to tell.

Cinematical: It would be great to see you, Mike, Simon Pegg and Jack Black all team up on a film. I'd love to see what that would look like.

EW: Yeah, well Mike and Jack are good friends even though they don't have a company together anymore. So chances are he would be involved in whatever we do.

Cinematical: Any chance of you coming over here to Hollywood and making a film?

EW: I'd like to. I suppose the key thing is to make sure you can retain your quirks. I was actually telling my agent the other day that I want to have enough muscle so that when I do a Hollywood film I can have my quirks retained -- and I want that in my contract. It's not about money or anything like that; as long as I can retain my idiosyncrasies, then I'll do a film anywhere.