Edgar Wright Says Studio Suggested Seth Rogen Play Scott Pilgrim

Though the film wasn’t a box office success at the time of its release, Edgar Wright‘s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World quickly became a fan favorite after it debuted in theaters and remains one to this day. Along the way though things were almost very, very different for the adaptation as director Edgar Wright has revealed that a studio suggestion for the lead would have created a different film entirely. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in an extensive Oral History about the film and its legacy, Wright revealed that comedian Seth Rogen was at one point suggested for the title role.

“Knocked Up had just come out, and [Universal’s then president of production] Donna Langley suggested Seth Rogen be Scott Pilgrim,” Wright said “I love Seth, but I couldn’t get my head around that…. Michael Cera was the only person who came to mind. I loved Arrested Development, he’s Canadian, he’s scrawny, he plays guitar, and the idea of Michael as a Romeo is just inherently amusing.”

Though the production ultimately went with Cera for the part, other decisions along the way during production almost gave us a different film as well. The film was being developed in tandem with the release of the graphic novels it’s based on with Wright originally plannign to have the titular “hero” end up with Knives Chau, only to tweak the finale to instead have him end up with Ramona Flowers, as he did in the final book. Star Michael Cera previously shared that maybe the best outcome would have been his character leaving both love interests alone to pursue their own interests.

“I don’t know. I mean, I really don’t know what the right ending is,” Cera shared with ComicBook.com of which ending he prefers. “Maybe he should have been alone. The women should have started a co-op together. And Scott’s just kind of there and they’re done with him. That would be good, too. Like, ‘Chill.’”

Wright has a number of other projects in the works for the future including Set My Heart to Five, a new film bring produced by Working Title and Focus Features and based on the upcoming novel by Simon Stephenson, and an adaptation of the novel The Chain for Universal Pictures. Furthermore his new production company called Complete Fiction has set a slate of new projects at Netflix with both TV and feature films in the works. Perhaps a place for Seth Rogen can be found in one of them.