Wednesday brought great news for fans of Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) and Jemaine Clement’s (Flight of the Conchords, Legion) cult comedy What We Do in the Shadows, as one of film’s spin-off series Wellington Paranormal has been picked up for distribution in the United States. Previously only available in New Zealand, the horror comedy will make its way to U.S. audiences this summer, marking the first joint acquisition from The CW and HBO Max, via Deadline.
For those who have been clamoring to watch Wellington Paranormal, this joint acquisition provides two platforms on which the What We Do in the Shadows spin-off will be available in the States. Episodes of Wellington Paranormal will first air on The CW, with next day streaming available on the network’s digital platforms as well as HBO Max.
Wellington Paranormal’s documentary crew follows police officers O’Leary and Minogue, who first appeared in the film What We Do In the Shadows, as they investigate supernatural happenings in New Zealand. Maaka Pohatu’s (The Umbrella Man) Sergeant Maaka enlists the help of Karen O’Leary (The Eggplant) and Mike Minogue’s (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) characters on his “Wellington constabulary’s paranormal unit” (Deadline).
In one of their investigations, the Wellington Paranormal team ran into Cori Gonzalez-Macuer’s (Eagle vs Shark, Mean Mums) Nick, the newest edition to What We Do in the Shadows’ crew of vampiric roommates. The film’s hit FX spin-off series What We Do in the Shadows has likewise featured crossover with characters from the film and Gizmodo comments that “bringing more of that stateside makes a bunch of sense.”
Despite the cross-platform deal with HBO Max, Gizmodo finds The CW and unconventional home for Wellington Paranormal in the United States, considering that the network’s lineup is heavy with drama series and DC comic book adaptations. However, Nerdist points out that US fans have been anxious to get their hands on the spin-off series since it’s 2018 New Zealand premiere and therefore won’t harbor many discrepancies as to which network it calls home.
The United States is not the only market interested in Wellington Paranormal, as Deadline reports that Sky recently picked up the comedy for distribution in the UK.
While there’s not yet been a precise date announced for Wellington Paranormal‘s stateside debut, fans can expect episodes to arrive on The CW with next-day HBO Max streaming sometime this summer, via Deadline. Wellington Paranormal is currently airing it’s third season on TVNZ2 in New Zealand.