Despite massive success with its adaptation of the Percy Jackson YA novel series, Disney+ chose to not release its other live-action series based on popular fantasy books. The entire first season of The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on the novels by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, was fully completed, but Disney+ shelved it. Luckily for fans, this won’t be another Batgirl situation, as Disney chose to sell the completed first season to Roku. Now, we have the first full trailer for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a lush-looking fantasy series with a great cast.
The series has some big-name talent attached. Among the cast are Christian Slater, Jack Dylan Grazer, Lyon Daniels, Noah Cottrell, Joy Bryant, and Mychala Lee. Although Disney developed the series, it actually comes from Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television. In the post-Harry Potter and Twilight wave of YA novel adaptations, The Spiderwick Chronicles received a film in 2008. But the movie didn’t live up to the book, and so a long-form series came about years later. This is similar to what happened with Percy Jackson, although that film received two entries before making the eventual switch to streaming series.
The Spiderwick Chronicles definitely does not look like it was a cheap series to produce, judging from the teaser trailer. Even if it finds its audience, it will be interesting to see if The Spiderwick Chronicles can maintain the same budget and production value for a potential second season. Hopefully, this does not wind up like Minx, the Max series which they canceled once its second season finished filming. The streamer sold the series to Starz, which aired the sophomore season with little fanfare before cancelling it months later.
What Is the Release Date for The Spiderwick Chronicles?
Hopefully, The Spiderwick Chronicles has a better outcome, as the novels have a legion of devoted fans. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long for this series. It is set to debut all eight episodes on April 19.
Originally published on February 21, 2024.