Cancelling shows that haven’t even premiered yet is a practice that doesn’t happen all that often and is by far the most egregious fate to befall any episodic project, but Disney doesn’t seem to care after unceremoniously abandoning its plans to air The Spiderwick Chronicles.
The literary adaptation was the reboot of a well-received family favorite that netted close to $200 million at the box office, and shooting wrapped all the way back in January of this year, so it’s not as if it was a completely unknown commodity or risky gamble to the extend of some on-demand exclusives that come bearing no name recognition whatsoever.
And yet, Paramount has been left to pick up the pieces and shop The Spiderwick Chronicles elsewhere, which could end in disaster if nobody is interested. However, what makes it even more infuriating is that the report outlining the fate of one fantastical reinvention that wasn’t based on a Disney-owned IP getting the boot is that another in the exact same boat has avoided an identical fate.
Sony control the rights to R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps, which has a Disney Plus series of its own in the works that called it a day on principal photography earlier this year. And yet, despite ticking the same boxes as The Spiderwick Chronicles, it’s been claimed by Deadline that not only will the Mouse House be holding onto it, but it could even end up being distributed on both the main streaming service and Hulu.
It seems counterproductive to salvage one but not the other, although that’s sadly how the industry tends to work sometimes.