What We Do in the Shadows Spinoff Wellington Paranormal Picked Up by HBO Max and The CW

Nearly three years after it originally debuted in New Zealand, the What We Do in the Shadows spinoff Wellington Paranormal is finally coming to airwaves in the U.S., as it's slated to debut on The CW this summer. Following the broadcast premiere of each episode, Wellington Paranormal will be available on The CW's app and on HBO Max. The third season of the series premiered this past February in New Zealand, though it's unknown what the release strategy will be for future seasons on The CW. The original 2014 What We Do in the Shadows was also reimagined for an FX sitcom of the same name.

Deadline describes the series, "Wellington Paranormal follows the adventures of two incurious police officers from the What We Do in the Shadows movie. It revolves around Officers O'Leary (Karen O'Leary) and Minogue (Mike Minogue), who both appeared in the film. They are hard-working members of the Wellington constabulary's paranormal unit who, under the supervision of Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu), investigate supernatural occurrences that arise in the capital of New Zealand on a surprisingly regular basis."

"It's surprising how many demonic possessions there are," co-director and co-writer Jemaine Clement detailed to Stuff ahead of the series' launch. "There was a very tense situation at the Bucket Fountain – I can tell you it involved a possible Gateway from Hell. We're very concerned about this kind of stuff."

Clement's partner on the film, Taika Waititi, has since become one of the most promising filmmakers in the industry, going on to helm Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit, as well as contribute to the debut season of The Mandalorian. His experience with both Disney and Lucasfilm has resulted in Waititi being tapped to develop a new Star Wars film.

As the What We Do in the Shadows world continues to grow, Waititi has also previously detailed that a spinoff film was in the works, with We're Wolves set to focus on the movie's werewolf characters.

"We're Wolves is the film that Jemaine and I keep pretending that we're making," Waititi shared at an Emmys event back in 2019. "Every couple of years we say, we're making this new film called 'We're Wolves,' which follows the werewolves from the film. 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.' 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."

Stay tuned for details on the future of the What We Do in the Shadows franchise.

Are you looking forward to checking out the series? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars.