A Disney Plus adaptation of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” is on the way

 

 

It’s Disney+ Day, and the studio’s torrent of announcements continues with the announcement (via Deadline) that a new version of The Spiderwick Chronicles is in the works. The Disney+ adaptation, based on Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black’s children’s book series, will premiere as a series on the streaming service at some time in the future.

 

At this time, Disney is keeping any more information under wraps. The Disney+ series will be based on the 2008 film of the same name, which was based mostly on the first book, The Field Guide. The plot involves twins Jared and Simon Grace (both played by Freddie Highmore in the film The Good Doctor) as they move into an ancient mansion with their mother and sister and uncover a book written by a great-uncle named Arthur Spiderwick that serves as a guide to the realm of magical creatures. They find that Mulgarath, a terrible shape-shifting monster, intends to use the book for his own wicked purposes.

 

Aside from a 2011 computer game, Mark Waters’ (Mean Girls) 2008 film remains the only effort to adapt the book series. The Seeing Stone (2003), Lucinda’s Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004), and The Wrath of Mulgarath followed The Field Guide in 2003. (2004). The Nixie’s Song (2007), A Giant Problem (2008), and The Wyrm King (2009) were the first three volumes in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series (2009). There is obviously plenty of source material to select from if the Disney+ series becomes popular.