Canceled Disney Series Revived At Rival Streaming Service
The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series which had been ordered, completed and canceled by Disney+, has been picked up by Roku, who now holds the exclusive rights to the series in the United States. According to Deadline, the new series, which consists of eight episodes, will come to Roku early next year. Based on the children’s fantasy novels by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, the series was produced by Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television.
Roku has picked up Disney+’s canceled The Spiderwick Chronicles series.
The Spiderwick Chronicles stars Joy Bryant and Christian Slater and represents The Roku Channel’s boldest move into original programming yet, having heretofore mostly focused on content it purchased from the now-defunct Quibi in 2021.
Head of Originals at Roku Media, Brian Tannenbaum, said in a statement that the streamer is honored to carry the fantasy/adventure series, calling it “exquisitely crafted” and referring to its creative team as “world-class.” It was roughly six weeks ago that Disney+ decided not to go forward with the series, in keeping with their continuing efforts at reducing costs.
The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the story of the Grace family and their move from New York to a great-grandfather’s home in Michigan known as Spiderwick Estate.
The Spiderwick Chronicles was a candidate for cutting because it falls outside the sphere of intellectual property owned by Disney, which is the area on which Disney+ prefers to focus. At that time, Paramount TV Studios began shopping the series to other streaming platforms, which is not necessarily a promising endeavor in the current streaming climate. However, the team at Paramount TV Studios, headed up by President Nicole Clemens, was able to find a new streaming home relatively quickly.
Clemens thanked The Roku Channel for picking up The Spiderwick Chronicles, calling the series a “beautiful” creation by showrunner Aron Eli Coleite. Clemens said Paramount is “elated” with the deal and glad to see the fantastical series able to find its audience. But this is not the first series Roku has picked up from another large company.
The popularity of the Spiderwick Chronicles book series will surely be a boost to Roku as the books have sold 20 million copies worldwide, making the series an attractive offering on the streamer.
Before Roku purchased the rights to The Spiderwick Chronicles, Warner Bros. Discovery produced a series called Chad, which they cut from their TBS schedule. The series concerns a Persian teenager who is trying to survive high school as he struggles with his racial identity and his mother’s dating life. Chad is set to have its second season premiere on The Roku Channel early next year.
Despite their purchase of the rights to The Spiderwick Chronicles, Roku has also reduced costs recently, removing $55 million to $65 million in content from their platform and laying off some 10% of their staff.
The popularity of the Spiderwick Chronicles book series will surely be a boost to Roku as the books have sold 20 million copies worldwide, making the series an attractive offering on the streamer. Authors DiTerlizzi and Black served as executive producers on the series, along with Coleite, Kat Coiro, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg, Julie Kane-Ritsch and Grace Gilroy.
The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the story of the Grace family and their move from New York to a great-grandfather’s home in Michigan known as Spiderwick Estate. There, they learn of secrets and mysteries the old house holds, along with a hidden world of strange creatures and magical adventures. The books were previously adapted by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies into a feature film starring Freddie Highmore in 2008.
