Whatever promise streaming services once offered is not just dead, it has been replaced by existential dread. Viewers no longer have to only worry their favorite films and TV shows will get pulled from sites at month’s end. They now have to worry new, finished films and TV shows will never see the light of day. Warner Bros. shelving the completed Batgirl film was not an isolated incident. It was a harbinger of things to come. Disney+ canceled its The Spiderwick Chronicles series before it could debut, despite the fact it’s already completed.
The only good news is another studio or platform could ultimately bring it to the small screen.
Deadline first reported the news about Disney+’s decision to not to release its live-action The Spiderwick Chronicles show. It’s based on the children’s fantasy novel series from Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. All eight episodes—starring Christian Slater, Jack Dylan Grazer, Lyon Daniels, Noah Cottrell, Joy Bryant, and Mychala Lee—are totally finished. In 2023 that simply doesn’t matter, unfortunately. The series won’t be coming to Disney+. Instead the company is treating it as a write-off, as it continues to service investors at the sad cost of creatives and fans.
The good news is that unlike Batgirl, we might still see the show. It was developed at Disney, but comes from Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television. They hope to find a new streaming home for The Spiderwick Chronicles. Paramount (who also made the 2008 film adaptation of the books) is said to be shopping it around to hopefully find a new home.
Of course, depending on where it ends up, it might not be available for long. Even shows and movies that do make it to streaming don’t always stay there very long. That’s the complete opposite of what streaming seemed to be offering not too long ago. It’s yet another sad bit of news in the ongoing streaming world updates.