It's now been 15 years since "Shaun of the Dead" hit theaters in the UK. That film wound up having a huge impact, kicking off a series of collaborations between Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg and proving to audiences that zombies and humor can go hand in undead hand. Celebrate this important movie milestone with some fun facts you might not know about "Shaun of the Dead."

1. Creators Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg decided to collaborate on a zombie movie after discovering a mutual appreciation for the work of director George Romero while working on the British sitcom "Spaced" and in particular an episode style after the "Resident Evil" videogame series that paid equal homage to the master of horror.

2. Romero in turn was so pleased with "Shaun of the Dead" that he cast Pegg and Wright as zombie extras in 2005's "Land of the Dead."

3.Nick Frost's Ed winds up foreshadowing the entire plot of the film (via the names of various cocktails) when he lays out his drinking plans to Shaun in the beginning.

4. None of the main characters ever have their surname spoken during the course of the film. However, an old DJ ad reveals that Shaun's last name is "Riley."

5. The origin of the zombie plague in the film is never explained, though various radio and TV broadcasts offer theories that reference other popular zombie movies like "Night of the Living Dead" and "28 Days Later."

6. The Winchester model 66 used in the film is the same as the one featured in both the original "Night of the Living Dead" and its 1990 remake.

7. "Shaun of the Dead's" UK release date was pushed back in order to avoid conflicting with the 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" remake.

8. The DVD special features offer conflicting information as to whether Lucy Davis' character Dianne lives or dies. According to the "Plot Holes" featurette, she survives by hiding in a tree and eventually goes to live with her aunt.

9. Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin plays two roles in the film, appearing first as a background zombie and later as himself hawking a product called ZombAid on TV.

10. "Shaun of the Dead" is the first entry in the "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy," which also includes 2007's "Hot Fuzz" and 2013's "The World's End." The three films are linked by the fact that they each star Pegg and Frost and each feature a reference to a different flavor of Cornetto ice cream.

11. Many of the storefronts and advertisements seen in the film pay tribute to acclaimed horror directors, including Landis Supermarket (John Landis) and Italian restaurant Fulci's (Lucio Fulci).

12. The British comic book magazine "2000AD" featured a short story called "There's Something About Mary" that takes place a day before the events of the movie and explores how the character Mary became a zombie.

13. Pegg and Wright briefly considered a vampire-themed sequel called "From Dusk Till Shaun," an homage to the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film "From Dusk Till Dawn."