Filmmaker Taika Waititi is earning heaps of praise for his work on this week’s Marvel Studios movie Thor: Ragnarok, but the 2014 vampire mockumentary he co-directed, What We Do in the Shadows, is the project that first earned him mainstream attention. Now it appears that he might be going back to that silly supernatural world — the vampire one, not the superhero one — for a television series aimed at American audiences.
Talking to Fandango about Ragnarok, Waititi let it slip that he’s currently developing a TV series based on What We Do in the Shadows that will be set in the U.S. instead of New Zealand.
“We’re trying to develop a U.S. version of What We Do in the Shadows,” he revealed. “You know, set here in the states, but a TV show.”
Waititi also indicated that, in addition to plans for a sequel to What We Do In The Shadows focusing on the city’s werewolf residents, there is also a spinoff series in the works that will follow the local police investigating all of the bizarre happenings in and around Wellington, where the films are based.
“[It will be] a spinoff following the two cops from the movie, as a sort of mockumentary X-Files [in] a certain small New Zealand town where they investigate paranormal activity,” he explained.
As for that aforementioned sequel, which is expected to be titled We’re Wolves (a play on werewolves, if you didn’t catch that), that project is still in the works, according to Waititi. Between his Marvel commitments and rumors that he could be a contender to direct a live-action movie based on the Akira manga series, the filmmaker’s schedule has been understandably busy.
“We’re still trying to write that,” he said of We’re Wolves. “We’re doing those [other shows] as well as trying to come up with ideas for this werewolf movie. It will happen!”
Although it’s uncertain when Waititi will get to any of these projects — spinoffs, sequels, or otherwise — set in the world of What We Do In The Shadows, fans of his work don’t have to wait long for his next project. Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters Friday, November 3.
Oh, and the first scene from What We Do in the Shadows is also available to watch on YouTube, just in case you want to see what all the fuss is about.
