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What We Do in the Shadows (franchise)

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What We Do in the Shadows
File:What We Do in the Shadow - franchise logo.jpg
Official franchise logo, as released in 2019.
Based onCharacters created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi
Release date
2005–present
CountriesNew Zealand
United States
LanguageEnglish

The What We Do in the Shadows franchise consists of New Zealand and American mockumentary horror-comedy installments including one limited-theatrical film, a number of short films, two spin-off television series, and one digital series. Created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, the plot concerns several vampires who live together in shared accommodation, who are followed by a documentary film crew.

The franchise will continue with a spin-off film titled We're Wolves currently in development.

Films

Film N.Z.
release date 		U.S.
release date 		Directors Screenwriters Producers Status
What We Do in the Shadows January 9, 2014 (2014-01-09) February 13, 2015 (2015-02-13) Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi Taika Waititi, Chelsea Winstanley and Emanuel Michael Released
We're Wolves TBA TBA TBA Jemain Clement & Taika Waititi TBA In development

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Main article: What We Do in the Shadows

Vampire housemates (Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh) try to cope with the complexities of modern life and attempt to introduce a newly turned vampire who is also a hipster some of the benefits of being undead.[1]

We're Wolves (TBA)

Main article: What We Do in the Shadows § Proposed sequel

A sequel to the What We Do in the Shadows, focused on the werewolves depicted in the film, originally rumoured to be titled What We Do in the Moonlight, was announced as being in development in August 2015.[2][3] In May 2019 Taika Waititi said "We're Wolves is the film that Jemaine and I keep pretending that we’re making. Every couple of years we say, we’re making this new film called We're Wolves which follows the werewolves from the film,” said Waititi. “I feel bad to even mention it now because we keep saying it, [but] it’s like a dad saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll be home for Christmas.’ I suppose we’re just two dads out on the road enjoying our lives and going, ‘We’re not coming home for Christmas.’ We'll send a postcard. It's not like we don't want to come home for Christmas. We would like nothing more but we have a lot of shit going on. When are you going to die? Do you have a ... deadline before your death? I guarantee it before then. Five years, 10 years? It took us seven years to write the [first] film, so you do the math. That was a sad thing to say."[4]

Short films

Film Release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer
What We Do in the Shadows:
Interviews with Some Vampires 		January 1, 2005 (2005-01-01) Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi Tyler Cogan
A Vampire's Guide to Vellington June 8, 2014 (2014-06-08) Taika Waititi David Perks
Dating 101 with Viago 2014 Angela Meyer

What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires (2005)

The original 29-minute short film by Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement, which inspired their 2014 film. In the short, three vampires—Deacon Brugh (Jonny Brugh), Count Viago (Waititi), and Vulvus the Abhorrent (Clement)—who share an apartment are interviewed by a TV crew.[5][6]

Vampire's Guide to Vellington (2014)

A short film and advertisement campaign by Wellington, as a comedic promotion that the city is a vampire-friendly place to visit. The film follows vampire Viago promoting the nightlife, cinemas and clothes shops of the city alongside his flatmates Vladislav and Deacon. As part of the campaign, the 'W' in the Wellington Blown Away sign on Miramar hill was temporarily changed to a blood-red 'V'.[7]

Dating 101 with Viago (2014)

A short film and advertisement campaign to promote the online dating services FindSomeone and Dating for Shoes. The film follows Dating for Shoes founder Angela Meyer giving Viago a tutorial on creating his very own FindSomeone profile: from creating a username, to describing his hobbies and interests.[8]

Television

Title Season Episodes Original
air date 		Network Showrunner(s) Status
First Last
Wellington Paranormal 1 6 July 11, 2018 (2018-07-11) August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15) TVNZ 2 Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement Released
2 7 October 16, 2019 (2019-10-16) December 19, 2019 (2019-12-19)
3 6 February 24, 2021 (2021-02-24)[9] March 31, 2021 (2021-03-31)[9]
What We Do in the Shadows 1 10 March 27, 2019 (2019-03-27) May 29, 2019 (2019-05-29) FX Paul Simms Released
2 10 April 15, 2020 (2020-04-15) June 10, 2020 (2020-06-10)
3 TBA TBA TBA Filming

Wellington Paranormal (2018–present)

Main article: Wellington Paranormal

The series follows Officers Minogue and O'Leary as they act as officers of the Wellington Police Department's Paranormal division under Sergeant Maaka.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present)

Main article: What We Do in the Shadows (TV series)

The series follows four vampire roommates and one vampire familiar living on Staten Island.

In May 2020, the series as ordered for a third season, while season two was still airing.[10] Production for season three was set to start in February 2021, before being postponed to later in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Digital series

Important COVID-19 Messages from Wellington Paranormal is a sixteen-episode digital web series and public service campaign released in 2020 by New Zealand Police to inform the public on health, safety, and best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series follows Officers Minogue and O'Leary in home isolation, and features several guests including Sergeant Maaka and Officer Parker. The series also includes Andrew Coster and Clarke Gayford as themselves.[12]

Main cast and characters

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in noteworthy roles.

  • An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
  •  C indicates a cameo role.
  •  P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
  •  V indicates a voice-only role.
Character Film Television Short films
What We Do in the Shadows Wellington Paranormal What We Do in the Shadows
1 2 3 1 2 3
Viago Von Dorna Schmarten Scheden Heimburg Taika Waititi Taika Waititi Taika WaititiA Taika Waititi
Vladislav "The Poker" Pokeris Jemaine Clement Jemaine ClementV Jemaine Clement Jemaine Clement
Deacon Brucke Jonny Brugh Jonny Brugh Jonny BrughA Jonny Brugh
Officer Kyle Minogue Mike Minogue Mike Minogue
Officer O'Leary Karen O'Leary Karen O'Leary
Nick Macure Cori Gonzalez-Macuer Cori Gonzalez-Macuer
Wesley the Daywalker Wesley SnipesP Wesley Snipes
Anton the Park Ranger Rhys Darby Rhys Darby
Dion Cohen Holloway
Petyr Ben Fransham
Stu Stu Rutherford
Clifton Simon Vincent
Jackie Jackie van Beek
Julian Jason Hoyte
Katherine Heimburg Ethel Robinson
Pauline "The Beast" Elena Stejko
Sergeant Ruawai Maaka Maaka Pohatu Maaka Pohatu
Constable Parker Thomas Sainsbury Thomas Sainsbury
Demon Girl Erika Camacho
Clarke Gayford Himself
Mrs. O'Leary Lynda Topp
Nandor the Relentless Kayvan Novak
Laszlo Cravensworth Matt Berry
Nadja Natasia Demetriou
Guillermo De la Cruz Harvey Guillén
Colin Robinson Mark Proksch
Jeff Suckler / Gregor Jake McDorman
Simon the Devious Nick Kroll
Baron Afanas Doug Jones Doug JonesA
Jim the Vampire Mark Hamill

Additional crew and production details

Title Crew/Detail
Composer(s) Cinematographer(s) Editors Production
companies 		Distributing
companies 		Running time
What We Do in the Shadows Plan 9 D.J. Stipsen & Richard Bluck Jonathan Woodford-Robinson,
Yana Gorskaya & Tom Eagles 		Resnick Interactive Development,
Unison Films,
Defender Films,
Funny or Die Films,
New Zealand Film Commission 		Madman Entertainment,
Paramount Pictures,
The Orchard Films 		1hr 25mins
Wellington Paranormal Jemaine Clement D.J. Stipsen Angela Boyd,
Tom Eagles & Shawn Paper 		New Zealand Documentary Board Television New Zealand 6hrs
What We Do in the Shadows
(The Series) 		Mark Mothersbaugh D.J. Stipsen & Christian Sprenger Yana Gorskaya, Shawn Paper, Dane McMaster, Daniel Haworth, Varun Viswanath, Tom Eagles, Joseph Ettinger & Antonia de Barros FX Productions,
Two Canoes Pictures,
343 Incorporated 		20th Century Fox Television,
20th Television,
Disney Media Distribution 		10hrs
We're Wolves TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

Reception

For more details on the reception of each title, see the "Reception" section on their respective articles.

Box office and financial performance

Film Box office gross Box office ranking Budget Ref.
North America Other territories Worldwide All-time
North America 		All-time
worldwide
What We Do in the Shadows $3,469,224 $5,012,132 $8,481,356 #6,798 #5,750 $1,600,000 [13][14][15]

Critical and public response

Title Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
What We Do in the Shadows 96% (186 reviews)[16] 76/100 (33 reviews)[17]
Wellington Paranormal —[18] —
What We Do in the Shadows (The Series) 97% (113 combined total series reviews)}}[19] 79/100 (41 reviews)[20]

References

  1. ^ Nelson, Rob (January 24, 2014). "Sundance Film Review: 'What We Do in the Shadows'". Variety. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  2. ^ Chavez, Danette (17 August 2015). "What We Do in the Shadows Is Getting a Sequel." AVClub.com. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  3. ^ Saathoff, Evan (25 January 2016). "What We Do in the Shadows Follow-up Gets A Snappy Title".
  4. ^ Nguyen, Hanh (May 24, 2019). "Taika Waititi Talks 'What We Do in the Shadows' and the Wait for the 'Werewolves' Movie". Indie Wire.
  5. ^ Waititi, Taika; Clement, Jemaine (2005). “What we do in the Shadows: Interviews with some Vampires” (short film). Wellington, New Zealand: Defender Films. Runtime 28:53 – via Pop Culture Pandora on YouTube (Jan 30, 2016).
  6. ^ "What we do in the Shadows: Interviews with some Vampires" (2005) at IMDb
  7. ^ APNZ (2014-06-10). "Vampires take over 'Vellington'". The New Zealand Herald.
  8. ^ Dating 101 with Viago – via www.youtube.com.
  9. ^ a b "Watch Wellington Paranormal". TVNZ. Retrieved 25 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Porter, Rick (May 22, 2020). "'What We Do in the Shadows' Renewed for Season 3 on FX". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  11. ^ Bennett, Tara (March 30, 2021). "What We Do in the Shadows Season 3 teases a returning character & more Jackie Daytona-style disruption". Syfy. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  12. ^ Wellington Paranormal | "Two Metres Please" | Sing Along – via www.youtube.com.
  13. ^ "What We Do in the Shadows". Box Office Mojo.
  14. ^ "What We Do in the Shadows (2014) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  15. ^ Romano, Aja (March 27, 2020). "How cult movie What We Do in the Shadows went from internet phenomenon to new TV show". Vox. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  16. ^ "What We Do in the Shadows (2014)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  17. ^ "What We Do in the Shadows" – via www.metacritic.com.
  18. ^ "Wellington Paranormal" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  19. ^ "What We Do in the Shadows" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  20. ^ "What We Do in the Shadows (2019)" – via www.metacritic.com.
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