The Roku Channel has unveiled the release date and a whimsical teaser trailer for the live-action TV adaptation of “The Spiderwick Chronicles.” The fantasy series, initially dropped by Disney+, will premiere on Friday, April 19, featuring all eight episodes available for free on The Roku Channel.
Joy Bryant, Christian Slater, Noah Cottrell, Lyon Daniels, Mychala Lee, and Jack Dylan Grazer star in the series that is based on the bestselling novels by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Spiderwick Chronicles follows the Grace family as they uncover the magical world within their ancestral home, Spiderwick.
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The official description reads, “Helen (Bryant) and her children, 15-year-old fraternal twins Jared (Daniels) and Simon (Cottrell) and their sister Mallory (Lee) move to their ancestral home, Spiderwick. Jared discovers a boggart and realizes that magical creatures are real! The only one to believe him is his great-aunt Lucinda who implores Jared to find the pages of her father’s field guide to magical creatures and protect them from the murderous Ogre, Mulgarath (Slater).”
The teaser trailer introduces the audience to the mystical atmosphere of Spiderwick, where Jared Grace (Lyon Daniels) stumbles upon a boggart and unravels the existence of magical creatures. Christian Slater’s character, Mulgarath, emerges as a chilling villain, vowing to consume humanity and declaring, “The world would be a better place without humans, and I am starving.”
Watch the trailer below.
The Roku Channel secured the exclusive U.S. rights to the TV adaptation after Disney+ opted out of moving forward with the series. The show is executive produced by Aron Eli Coleite, Kat Coiro, Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, and others, with Coleite and Coiro serving as showrunners. Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television are the production entities behind the project.
After completing filming of all eight episodes, the series faced an unexpected setback when Disney+ reversed its series order in August 2023. Fortunately, The Roku Channel stepped in, picking up the complete series in October, ensuring that fans and newcomers alike can experience the adaptation of the beloved books.
Roku users can enjoy “The Spiderwick Chronicles” on Roku devices, TheRokuChannel.com, iOS and Android devices, Amazon Fire TVs, Samsung TVs, Google TVs, and other Android TV OS devices.