The Spiderwick Chronicles (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = The Spiderwick Chronicles

| image = Spiderwick_chronicles_poster.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Mark Waters

| producer = {{plainlist |

}}

| screenplay = {{plainlist |

}}

| based_on = {{Based on|The Spiderwick Chronicles|Tony DiTerlizzi and
Holly Black}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = James Horner

| cinematography = Caleb Deschanel

| editing = Michael Kahn

| studio = {{ubl|Nickelodeon Movies|The Kennedy/Marshall Company|Atmosphere Pictures}}

| distributor = Paramount Pictures

| released = {{Film date|2008|01|31|Hollywood|2008|02|14|United States}}

| runtime = 95 minutes{{cite web|title=THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (PG)|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/spiderwick-chronicles-0|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419211641/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/spiderwick-chronicles-0|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 19, 2013|work=British Board of Film Classification|date=December 18, 2007|access-date=January 19, 2013}}

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $90 million

| gross = $164.2 million

}}

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 American dark fantasy adventure film directed by Mark Waters from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick, David Berenbaum, and John Sayles, based on the book series The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. It stars Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker and Sarah Bolger, with Nick Nolte, Seth Rogen, and Martin Short in voice roles. The film, set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, follows three children who discover a field guide to fairies while encountering various magical creatures such as goblins, ogres, brownies, boggarts, hobgoblins, trolls and many others.

The film is dedicated to Scott Rathner, who died on August 12, 2007.

Produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was released on February 14, 2008, earning $162.8 million against its $90 million budget. The Spiderwick Chronicles received generally positive reviews from critics, with Highmore's dual performance being singled out for praise. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24, 2008, in the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Paramount/Disc_Announcements/Breaking_Paramount_Unveils_Blu-ray_Launch_Plans/1696|title=Breaking: Paramount Unveils Blu-ray Launch Plans | High-Def Digest|website=www.highdefdigest.com}}

Plot

In 1928, Arthur Spiderwick writes a field guide about the many fairies he has encountered. After finishing the Book, he hides it away for fear of Mulgarath, a shapeshifting ogre who plans to use the Book's secrets for evil.

Eighty years later, recently divorced Helen Grace inherits and moves into the abandoned Spiderwick estate with her children, daughter Mallory and twin sons Jared and Simon. Jared is angry about the move and would rather live with his father in New York. After uncovering a hidden dumbwaiter, Jared discovers Arthur's study where he finds the Field Guide. When Jared explains his discovery of the Book and the existence of magical creatures, his family does not believe him.

The next morning, Jared meets a brownie named Thimbletack, who is initially angry with Jared for having opened the book that he needed to protect from Mulgarath. Jared placates him with crackers and honey, and Thimbletack gives Jared a holed stone that allows Jared to see the normally invisible fairies by looking through it. Thimbletack tells him about the protective mushroom circle surrounding the house.

Jared witnesses Simon's abduction by goblins, led by Redcap. Simon is taken to the goblins' campsite where he is confronted by Mulgarath, disguised as an old man. Jared sneaks into the campsite where he meets Hogsqueal, a hobgoblin, who gives Jared the ability to see fairies without the stone by spitting in his eyes so he can help him get revenge on Mulgarath for killing his family. Mulgarath releases Simon so he can fetch the book for him. Jared finds Simon and both fight over the book before they are chased by the goblins. The twins flee back to the house, and Mallory fights them off with her fencing sabre.

The children decide to visit Arthur's daughter, their great-aunt Lucinda Spiderwick, for advice. While Simon distracts the goblins, Mallory and Jared escape through an underground tunnel. Chased by a troll sent by Redcap, they narrowly escape when it is struck and killed by an oncoming truck. Jared and Mallory meet the elderly Lucinda in the psychiatric hospital where she lives, surrounded by sprites. She tells the children that they need to find her father and have him destroy the book and that, for eighty years, Arthur has been held captive by the sylphs. At that moment, Redcap and his goblins attack them through the window and manage to tear off several pages from the book before being driven off. Among the stolen pages, Mulgarath is pleased to find information on how to break the protective circle.

While Helen is driving home, she and Jared argue over her disbelief; Jared angrily tells Helen that he hates her and does not want to live with her anymore. Later, Hogsqueal, having overheard Mulgarath's plan, informs the children. When Jared tries and fails to contact his father again, Mallory tells him the truth: he's dating another woman and has moved in with her. Jared, Simon, and Mallory use the book to summon a griffin, which takes them to the sylphs' realm. There, they meet Arthur, who has not aged and is initially unaware of the time he has spent there. Jared asks him to destroy the book only to find out that Thimbletack had switched the pages and kept the real Book. Arthur is relieved until Jared tells him that Mulgarath knows how to break the protective circle. Arthur informs Jared that the sylphs will not allow them to leave as they, like him, know too much about the fairies and the fairies do not want them to reveal their existence to the world. Arthur helps them escape by distracting the sylphs with the fake book.

At home, the children finally convince Helen of the truth. Meanwhile, the goblins finish spreading their potion, which successfully breaks the circle as the full moon rises. The family defend themselves with kitchen knives and tomato sauce/salt bombs (ingredients deadly to goblins) and manage to kill the goblins in an explosion of tomato sauce. Suddenly, the children's father, Richard, appears; however, Jared, suspicious about his father's words and behavior, stabs him, revealing him to be Mulgarath in disguise. Mulgarath pursues Jared and the Book throughout the house before cornering him on the roof. Jared tosses the Book and Mulgarath transforms into a raven to catch it, but he is suddenly grabbed and eaten by Hogsqueal. Afterwards, Jared and his mother reconcile. Jared refuses to live with his father again and decides to only live with his mother instead.

Several weeks later, the family brings Lucinda to visit the house. The sylphs arrive with Arthur, allowing him to briefly visit now that the Book is safe. However, Arthur cannot stay long as he will turn to dust if he remains. Lucinda asks to go with him and is transformed back into a child. The Grace family watch as the sylphs spirit Arthur and Lucinda away.

Cast

Freddie Highmore as the Grace twins
Jared Grace: The main protagonist, the black sheep of the family, and the most reluctant about moving from New York.
Simon Grace: Jared's identical twin brother and a pacifistic animal lover.
Mary-Louise Parker as Helen Grace: the children's overprotective mother.
Nick Nolte as Mulgarath, an evil shapeshifting ogre, the leader of the goblins, and the main antagonist.
Sarah Bolger as Mallory Grace: Jared and Simon's firm and brave older sister.
Andrew McCarthy as Richard Grace: Jared, Simon, and Mallory's divorced and neglectful father.
McCarthy also portrays Mulgarath's disguise of Richard.
Joan Plowright as Lucinda Spiderwick, the daughter of Arthur Spiderwick and Constance Spiderwick.
Jordy Benattar as Young Lucinda Spiderwick
David Strathairn as Arthur Spiderwick, the author of the guide and former owner of the mansion.
Lise Durocher-Viens as Constance Spiderwick, the wife of Arthur Spiderwick and mother of Lucinda Spiderwick
Tod Fennell as Helen Grace's co-worker
Mariah Inger as Nurse
Jeremy Lavalley as Tow Truck Driver

Voice cast

Seth Rogen as Hogsqueal, an unintelligent bird-eating hobgoblin who seeks revenge against Mulgarath for killing his family.
Martin Short as Thimbletack, a loyal house brownie who shapeshifts into an aggressive boggart when he becomes angry.
Ron Perlman as Redcap, Mulgarath's aggressive and loyal general of his goblin army – his role is uncredited.{{Cite web |last=Negron |first=Sage |date=2021-09-02 |title=What The Cast Of Spiderwick Chronicles Is Doing Today |url=https://www.looper.com/594137/what-the-cast-of-spiderwick-chronicles-is-doing-today/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=Looper |language=en-US}}
Ben Diskin, Bob Joles, Jonathan Lipow, John Mariano, Nolan North, Chris Parson, and Fred Tatasciore perform the goblin voices.

Production

=Filming=

Image:SpiderwickChroniclesSet.jpg set used during filming.]]

In an interview, Sarah Bolger said that filming took 4–5 months. She said that she "was [in front of] the blue screen like 24 hours a day", and for the most part, she was "kicking and slicing and chopping things that were nowhere near". Since Bolger had many fencing scenes, she had five weeks of intense training, and three hours with the Canadian Olympic fencing coach nearly every day.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080208184528/http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_14050.html Sarah Bolger Interview, The Spiderwick Chronicles - MoviesOnline]

=Music=

Reception

=Critical response=

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Spiderwick Chronicles is an entertaining children's adventure, with heart and imagination to spare."{{cite web |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spiderwick_chronicles/ |title= The Spiderwick Chronicles |website= Rotten Tomatoes |access-date= 2020-05-04 }} On Metacritic the film has an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.{{cite web |url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-spiderwick-chronicles |title=The Spiderwick Chronicles |website= Metacritic |access-date= 2020-05-04 }} Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.{{cite web |title=Jumper vaults to No. 1 |url=https://ew.com/article/2008/02/19/jumper-vaults-no-1/ |website=EW.com |access-date=2020-05-04 |quote=Both also received sweet A- CinemaScore grades, portending leggy runs at the box office…for at least another week.}}{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, THE (2008) A- |work= CinemaScore |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}

Critics called it "decent entertainment,"{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1713836,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218073632/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1713836,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 18, 2008 |title=Run from Jumper, Creep Toward Spiderwick |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Richard Corliss |date=February 15, 2008 |publisher= Time Magazine}} "a work of both modest enchantment and enchanting modesty,"{{cite web |url= https://variety.com/2008/film/reviews/the-spiderwick-chronicles-2-1200548168/ |title=The Spiderwick Chronicles |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Justin Change |date=February 10, 2008 |publisher=Variety}} and "modest and reasonably charming."{{cite web |url=http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16807&reviewer=389 |title=The Spiderwick Chronicles |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Peter Sobczynski |date=February 14, 2008 |publisher=eFilmCritic.com}} It was criticized for its reliance on special effects; A. O. Scott of The New York Times said that the movie "feels more like a sloppy, secondhand pander" and called it "frantic with incident and hectic with computer-generated effects,"{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/movies/14spid.html |title=A House Divided by Old Magic and New Residents |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=A. O. Scott |date=February 14, 2008 |work= The New York Times }} and another said that "the sense of wonder and magic is lost in the shuffle."{{cite web |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/351147_spider14q.html |title='Spiderwick' looks pretty but offers little |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Sean Axmaker |date=February 13, 2008 |publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer}} Despite some negative reviews for the film overall, Highmore was generally praised for his dual role as the twins Simon and Jared. One critic said that he "skillfully portrays two distinctive personas,"{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2008-02-13-spiderwick-chronicles_N.htm |title='Spiderwick' doesn't stick, despite Highmore's performance |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Claudia Puig |date=February 13, 2008 |publisher= USA TODAY |quote=Freddie Highmore does a fine job in a dual role as identical twins. The talented actor skillfully portrays two distinctive personas.}} another said he "[had] no trouble grasping the task at hand,"{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2008/02/14/2008-02-14_spiderwick_chronicles_fantasy_can_grow_o.html |title='Spiderwick Chronicles' fantasy can grow on you |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Elizabeth Weitzman |date=February 14, 2008 |publisher=NY Daily News |quote= Happily, Highmore has no trouble grasping the task at hand.}} and a third remarked that, "the most special effect is probably Highmore".{{cite web |url=https://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=9183 |title=A creepy-crawly and digitized faerie tale |access-date=March 5, 2008 |author=Ty Burr |date=February 14, 2008 |publisher=The Boston Globe |quote=The most special effect is probably Highmore, who gets to sharpen up his American accent and who makes each twin, bookish Simon and bad-boy Jared, a functioning individual.}}

Roger Ebert gave it three and half stars on four and said: "The Spiderwick Chronicles is a terrific entertainment for the whole family, except those below a certain age, who are likely to be scared out of their wits. What is that age? I dunno; they're your kids. But I do know the PG classification is insane, especially considering what happens right after a father says he loves his son. This is a PG-13 movie, for sure. But what will cause nightmares for younger kids will delight older ones, since The Spiderwick Chronicles is a well-crafted family thriller that is truly scary and doesn't wimp out.{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=February 14, 2008 |title=Movie Review: 'The Spiderwick Chronicles' |url=https://issuu.com/fcnp/docs/02-14_20-08/30 |access-date=May 17, 2024 |work=Falls Church News-Press |pages=30}}

The film was nominated by the Visual Effects Society in the category of "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture" but it lost to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, another film from Paramount Pictures.{{cite web|url=https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/ayear/7th-annual-ves-awards|title=7th Annual VES Awards|work=visual effects society|access-date=December 21, 2017}} The film was also nominated for two Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film and Freddie Highmore for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.{{cite web |url=http://www.saturnawards.org/nominations.html |title=Nominations for the 35th Annual Saturn Awards |publisher=Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films |access-date=March 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221234527/http://www.saturnawards.org/nominations.html |archive-date=February 21, 2012}}

=Box office=

In its opening weekend, the film grossed an estimated $19 million in 3,847 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #2 behind Jumper at the box office.{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderwickchronicles.htm |title=The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) |access-date=February 17, 2008 |publisher=Box Office Mojo}} With the opening day's gross on Thursday included, the film grossed an estimated $24.3 million on its opening weekend.{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=spiderwickchronicles.htm |title=The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results |access-date=February 17, 2008 |publisher=Box Office Mojo}} It has grossed $162.8 million worldwide.{{cite web|url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderwickchronicles.htm |title=The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results |access-date=May 5, 2008 |publisher=Box Office Mojo}}

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24, 2008, in the United States. It was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 12, 2017, in the United States.

Television series

On November 12, 2021, Disney announced that a series would be filmed and released on Disney+. It was produced by 20th Television with partnership from Paramount Television Studios. The series is not co-produced by Nickelodeon due to it being produced by 20th Television and Paramount only. It is also not related to the film. In August 2023, it was announced that the already completed series would no longer be airing on Disney+ due to cost cutting reasons, but it would be shopped to other studios.{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=2023-08-26 |title='The Spiderwick Chronicles' Not Going Forward At Disney+ As Part Of Content Cost-Cutting & Strategy Shift; Being Shopped By Paramount TV Studios |url=https://deadline.com/2023/08/the-spiderwick-chronicles-canceled-disney-plus-cost-cutting-shopped-paramount-1235528689/ |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=Deadline}} In October 2023, Roku announced that it had picked up the series and released it in its entirety on April 19, 2024 on The Roku Channel, consisting of eight episodes.{{cite web|title=The Spiderwick Chronicles: Roku Debuts Trailer for Fantasy Series With Christian Slater After Disney+ Scrapped It|url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-spiderwick-chronicles-trailer-roku-christian-slater-1235918538/|last=Thompson|first=Jaden|website=Variety|date=February 21, 2024|access-date=February 26, 2024}}

Video game

Vivendi Games, under their Sierra Entertainment label enlisted Stormfront Studios to develop and produce a video game adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles, following the general storyline of the books and film.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/thespiderwickchronicles/news_6176472.html |title= Sierra snares Spiderwick Chronicles |access-date=March 4, 2008 |author=Brendan Sinclair |date=August 9, 2007 |publisher=GameSpot}} It was released, shortly before the film's opening, on February 5, 2008, for Nintendo DS, Wii, PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2, and rated Everyone (E10+) by the ESRB.

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.spiderwickchronicles.com/}}
{{IMDb title|0416236|The Spiderwick Chronicles}}
{{mojo title|spiderwickchronicles|The Spiderwick Chronicles}}
[http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2008/spiderwick_chronicles_production_details.htm Full production notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603021853/http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2008/spiderwick_chronicles_production_details.htm |date=June 3, 2013 }}
[http://www.parentalsite.com/movie/spiderwickchronicles2008.html Parentalsite.com Review]

Film

Category:2008 films

Category:2000s fantasy adventure films

Category:2000s monster movies

Category:2000s children's adventure films

Category:2000s children's fantasy films

Category:2000s dark fantasy films

Category:Films set in 1928

Category:American children's adventure films

Category:American fantasy adventure films

Category:American dark fantasy films

Category:American monster movies