Overview
When Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi invited the world to experience the vampire sharehouse mockumentary genre, one of the best comedies of the decade wasn't the only result. Every film seems to spawn sequels, remakes, spinoffs and the like these days, but no one's complaining about spending more time in the What We Do in the Shadows universe.
A follow-up, We're Wolves, is in the works, focusing on the undead bloodsuckers' Rhys Darby-led lycanthrope enemies. And television spinoff Wellington Paranormal, following the movie's cops (Mike Minogue and Karen O'Leary) as they keep investigating the supernatural, debuted its first season last year and has a second season in the works. Add a US TV remake of the original flick to the pile as well, but withhold any "do we really need a remake?" judgement.
First revealed by Waititi in 2017, given a pilot order earlier in 2018 and now set to air a ten-episode first season in the US this March, the American version has been written by Clement and directed by Waititi, The Hollywood Reporter notes — and sees a documentary crew follow three vampire flatmates living in New York City, according to Variety. The series stars Toast of London's Matt Berry, Four Lions' Kayvan Novak, British stand-up comedian Natasia Demetriou and The Magicians' Harvey Guillen.
It's unknown whether Clement and Waititi will reprise their on-screen roles in a guest capacity, but Australian viewers will get to see the series — according to ads aired frequently during Foxtel's Golden Globes broadcast this week, the show is headed to the pay TV network's Fox Showcase channel at a yet-to-be-revealed date.
Two very brief teasers were released late in 2018, and another has just dropped — and while it's still very short, it does give viewers a look at the whole main gang:
With What We Do in the Shadows actually starting its life as a short back in 2005, the concept of flatting members of the undead arguing about bloody dishes has taken quite the journey since those early beginnings. If any idea was going to come back in multiple guises, it's this one. Of course, so have Clement and Waititi. Clement's latest Flight of the Conchords TV special aired late last year, while Waititi two post-Thor: Ragnarok flicks in the works — a stop-motion animated effort called Bubbles, about Michael Jackson's chimp, and another by the name of Jojo Rabbit, set during World War II and starring Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell.
Via The Hollywood Reporter / Variety. Image: Kane Skennar.