Spiderwick Chronicles: Why live adaptations of the fantasy series struggle

WEB DESK: Since its debut on the Roku Channel on Friday, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” was met with overwhelming negative reviews from critics, who seem unimpressed with the show despite it being touted as the streaming platform’s most “ambitious project” yet.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is based on a children’s fantasy book series written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. The show follows the Grace family as they encounter fairies and goblins on the Spiderwick estate. The 2024 adaptation has not garnered any grace from with critics, however.

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Despite belonging to one of the most profitable genres, the high fantasy of the Spiderwick Chronicles does not seem to resonate well with either audiences or critics in live-action adaptations.

The Spiderwick Chronicle book series began in 2003 when the series’ first book “The Field Guide” was published. The debut novel would be followed by “The Seeing Stone”,” Lucinda’s Secret”, “The Ironwood Tree”, and “The Wrath of Mulgarath”.

The series also includes additional books that explore the broader world of Spiderwick. Additionally, there is a direct sequel titled “Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles,” which currently consists of three books.

To understand why live adaptations have struggled, let’s start by examining the ill-fated 2008 movie adaptation. Produced by Nickelodeon Movies, the movie adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles hit theaters in 2008.

Despite good box office run where it earned $164 million on a budget of $90 million, the movie has an abysmal score of 6.5 out of ten on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Meanwhile, it fared better on review aggregator “Rotten Tomatoes” with 81 per cent approval rating from critics and a modest 63 per cent from audiences.

The movie did receive a few accolades including nominations for two Saturn Awards  for “Best Fantasy Film” and a “Best Performance by a Younger Actor” for the actor Freddie Highmore who portrayed both Jared and Simon. However, the movie is now nothing but a long-forgotten figment in the minds of older Gen Z’ers and younger Millennials.

Meanwhile, the 2024 adaptation is a television series. The show consists of eight episodes in the first season and premiered on the streaming platform the Roku Channel.

…And has overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics.

Lyon Daniels, Noah Cottrell and Mychala Lee star as siblings Jared Grace, Simon Grace and Mallory Grace respectively. Meanwhile, Jack Dylan Grazer portrays the character of ‘Thimbletack’ while Christian Slater stars as the villainous ‘Mulgarath’.

The show’s costumes were designed by Ann Foley, who also assisted in the production design in an attempt to bring the fantastical world to life.

The show tried to plant Easter eggs here and there for the fans of the book series. Aron Eli Coleite revealed a hidden Easter egg – Lorengorm, a character that was introduced in the third book of the series made a veiled appearance in the television adaptation.

The co-author revealed that Lorengorm can be seen “trapped within the tree” planted by Arthur Spiderwick in the foyer of the estate.

In a huge blow to the show, the 2024 adaptation was executive-produced by DiTerlizzi and Black  themselves.

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Despite seeking to resonate with fans through the direct involvement of the series creators, the transition from inked words on paper to the visual medium of the show fell short of expectations.

A glimpse into the behind-the-scenes history of the show’s development might offer insights.

The show was initially acquired by the Walt Disney Company for their streaming platform, “Disney+.” However, Disney later opted to drop the show as part of their cost-cutting measures.

According to “Deadline,” the company’s CFO stated, “We are in the process of reviewing the content on our services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation. [We] will be removing certain content from our streaming platform”.

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The Roku Channel would later pick up the series for a live adaptation. As per Deadline, Roku had expressed their “delight” in taking on the project. The Spiderwick Chronicles, after all, is the smaller streaming platform’s most ambitious project thus far.

The show has received an abysmal 4.8 out of ten score on IMDb. Interestingly, unlike the 2008 movie, the show seems to have resonated better with audiences, boasting an impressive 75 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics could only give it a combined 38 per cent approval rating though.

The producers at the Roku Channel appear to have taken note of the overwhelmingly negative critical reception of the series. The streaming platform has yet to provide any updates regarding the future of the show, maintaining a deafening silence on its fate.