The Disney+ adaptation of ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles‘ has been canceled. The six-episode series, produced by Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television, has been completed. Paramount is currently looking to sell it to other studios.
Created by Aron Eli Coleite, the series is based on the book by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. The show stars Christian Slater as the ogre Mulgarath, Jack Dylan Grazer as Thimbletack, Lyon Daniels as Jared Grace, Noah Cottrell as Simon Grace, Joy Bryant as Helen Grace, and Mychala Lee as Mallory Grace, with recurring roles played by Momona Tamada as Emiko and Alyvia Alyn Lind as Calliope.
The series was announced during Disney+ Day in November 2021; it began filming in Canada in September and wrapped up in early 2023. The cancellation is because Disney and other media companies are reevaluating streaming strategies to save costs and prioritize profit. This connects to Disney’s larger content write-off announced in May.
Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said, “We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation.” McCarthy added, “As a result, we will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms and currently expect to take an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion.”
Following that announcement, many original series were removed from Disney+ and Hulu. In July, Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, revealed a slowdown in making Marvel and Star Wars content for Disney+. In February, Disney revealed a plan to cut $3 billion from non-sports content spending.
We’ll provide an update soon regarding the new streaming platform and release date for ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’.
