What We Do in the Shadows (franchise)

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Comedy media franchise

What We Do in the Shadows
What We Do in the Shadows Title Card.jpg

Official franchise logo, as released in 2019.
Based on Characters created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

Release date

 2005–present
Countries New Zealand
United States
Language English

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.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)[edit]

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

We’re Wolves (TBA)[edit]

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[edit]

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

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.[6][7]

Dating 101 with Viago (2014)[edit]

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]

Vampire’s Guide to Vellington (2014)[edit]

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’.[9]

Television[edit]

Wellington Paranormal (2018–2022)[edit]

The series follows Officers Minogue and O’Leary, who originally appeared as secondary characters in the 2014 film. They join a paranormal division of the Wellington Police Department under Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu). The show debuted on TVNZ 2 in 2018, and was renewed several times. The fourth and final season aired in 2022.[14]

What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present)[edit]

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

In May 2020, the series was ordered for a third season, while season two was still airing.[15]
Production for season three was set to start in February 2021, before being postponed to later in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

Digital series[edit]

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.[17]

Main cast and characters[edit]

List indicator(s)

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

  • An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the installment, 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.
  •  G indicates a guest appearance in the installment.
  •  P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
  •  R indicates a recurring role in the installment.
  •  V indicates a voice-only role.

Additional crew and production details[edit]

Reception[edit]

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

Box office and financial performance[edit]

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 [18][19][20]

Critical and public response[edit]

Title Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
What We Do in the Shadows 96% (186 reviews)[21] 76/100 (33 reviews)[22]
Wellington Paranormal 98% (39 combined total series reviews)[23] 72/100 (12 reviews)[24]
What We Do in the Shadows (The Series) 98% (170 combined total series reviews)[25] 79/100 (41 reviews)[26]

References[edit]

  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. ^ “Dating 101 with Viago”. YouTube. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  6. ^ 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).
  7. ^ “What we do in the Shadows: Interviews with some Vampires” (2005) at IMDb
  8. ^ Dating 101 with Viago – via www.youtube.com.
  9. ^ APNZ (2014-06-10). “Vampires take over ‘Vellington’“. The New Zealand Herald.
  10. ^ a b “Watch Wellington Paranormal”. TVNZ. Retrieved 25 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ “We Now Know when the Funny Vampires Are Coming Back”. 3 June 2021.
  12. ^ Remley, Hilary (May 13, 2022). “‘What We Do in The Shadows’ Season 4 Release Date Set for July”. Collider. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  13. ^ “‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Renewed for Season 5 and Season 6 at FX”. Variety. 6 June 2022.
  14. ^ @WellyParanormal (February 13, 2022). “Here’s a sneak peak of Season 4 of #WellingtonParanormal, courtesy of our mates at @TVNZ. This Wednesday 16th February, Australia catch it on @SBSOnDemand and NZ on TVNZ 2” (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Porter, Rick (May 22, 2020). “‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Renewed for Season 3 on FX”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Wellington Paranormal | “Two Metres Please” | Sing Along – via www.youtube.com.
  18. ^ “What We Do in the Shadows”. Box Office Mojo.
  19. ^ “What We Do in the Shadows (2014) – Financial Information”. The Numbers.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ “What We Do in the Shadows (2014)” – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  22. ^ “What We Do in the Shadows” – via www.metacritic.com.
  23. ^ “Wellington Paranormal” – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  24. ^ “Wellington Paranormal” – via www.metacritic.com.
  25. ^ “What We Do in the Shadows” – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  26. ^ “What We Do in the Shadows (2019)” – via www.metacritic.com.