For a filmmaker whose style is undeniably modern, Edgar Wright has a surprising love for the cinema of the past.

The director of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Wright creates work that in many ways is a spiritual successor to older films.

And now, at the New Beverly Cinema, Wright is sharing his love for the medium with Los Angeles.

Smile for the Camera · Edgar Wright uses the Beverly New Cinema program to bring underwatched films to current movie fans. - Photo courtesy of Piper Ferguson

Movie enthusiasts and afficionados who attend “The Wright Stuff II” series, which launched Saturday and runs through Jan. 31, are best compared to kids in a candy shop of great filmography.

Throughout this series’ exhibition, the New Beverly Cinema will run double features of movies selected by Wright, with a repeat the next night. The series is Wright’s second outing in theater programming, with his first show, “The Wright Stuff,” running back in 2007.

“I was in L.A. after promoting Hot Fuzz and the New Beverly had programmed a double bill, and [Quentin] Tarantino told me about it,” Wright said. “Before that happened, very sadly the manager died; it was very dark, it was closed for months maybe, at least a couple of weeks, and no one knew what would happen.”

The theater reopened, and the British director’s involvement gave the staff the idea for what would eventually become “The Wright Stuff.”

“The first double bill back on was mine,” Wright said. “I went down to do a Q&A after each one. It was really fun, there was a great crowd.”

“After that, [Michael Torgan and Julia Marchese of the New Beverly] suggested the idea of me programming, which I did in December of 2007. Programming was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. Ever since, they’ve asked me to do it again, and we finally found a window.”

Wright particularly enjoys working with the New Beverly, as the theater gives him a chance to expose younger viewers to films they might not have seen before.

The films in the series vary, from big hits like Dirty Harry and American Graffiti, to lesser known movies such as Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Duel and foreign films like Run Lola Run. The program has also attracted a slew of directors from Joe Dante to Diablo Cody.

But “The Wright Stuff II” is not just a chance for Wright to show the films.

Each night the New Beverly pairs the movies with trailers that complement the double bill, creating a complete cinematic experience.

Saturday’s opening show featured trailers handpicked by Tarantino, including classic films like Carrie and exploitation films like Fuzz.

Many of the films are thematically paired together, like a double feature of Dirty Harry and The Super Cops, or American Graffiti and Animal House, but Wright is more concerned with exposing viewers to films that, to his surprise, have fallen off the radar.

Wright is working hard on the series, but also thinking about future projects.

Along with having his name attached to Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man, he is starting to brainstorm The World’s End, the final film in his unofficial “Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy”  also known as “Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy,”  that also consists of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

“[Simon Pegg and I] need to sit down and write,” Wright said. “Last night was really nice because we aren’t often in the same room, he’s been really busy. It was really great to watch Shaun and Hot Fuzz with him.”

“We started talking about the movies on the car back and it was really good, [it] got us inspired.”

For now, Wright is enjoying being a movie fan and watching his favorite films with the people of Los Angeles.

“I think it’s a thrill for people to see these movies on the big screen for the first time. I get very excited for that,” he said. “I try and sort of imagine what it would be like for me as a film fan seeing these movies on the big screen for the first time.”