The Spiderwick Chronicles (film)
The Spiderwick Chronicles | |
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Directed by | Mark Waters |
Screenplay by | |
Based on | The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Caleb Deschanel |
Edited by | Michael Kahn |
Music by | James Horner |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $90 million[2] |
Box office | $164.2 million[2] |
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 American
The film is dedicated to Scott Rathner, who died on August 12, 2007. Produced by
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
The next morning, Jared meets a
Jared witnesses Simon's abduction by
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
While Helen is driving home, she and Jared argue over her disbelief; Jared angrily tells Helen that he hates her and doesn't want to live with her anymore. Later, Hogsqueal, having overheard Mulgarath's plan, informs the children. 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 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 won't allow them to leave as they, like him, know too much about the faeries. 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 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.
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.[citation needed]
- perform the goblin voices.
Production
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.[4]
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."[5] On Metacritic the film has an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.[7][8]
Critics called it "decent entertainment,"[9] "a work of both modest enchantment and enchanting modesty,"[10] and "modest and reasonably charming."[11] 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,"[12] and another said that "the sense of wonder and magic is lost in the shuffle."[13] 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,"[14] another said he "[had] no trouble grasping the task at hand,"[15] and a third remarked that, "the most special effect is probably Highmore".[16]
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.[17] The film was also nominated for two Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film and Freddie Highmore for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.[18]
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.[2] With the opening day's gross on Thursday included, the film grossed an estimated $24.3 million on its opening weekend.[19] It has grossed $162.8 million worldwide.[20]
Home media
The film was released on
Television series
On November 12, 2021,
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.[23] 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.
See also
References
- ^ "THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. December 18, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
- ^ a b c "The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
- ^ a b "Breaking: Paramount Unveils Blu-ray Launch Plans | High-Def Digest". www.highdefdigest.com.
- ^ Sarah Bolger Interview, The Spiderwick Chronicles - MoviesOnline
- ^ "The Spiderwick Chronicles". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ "The Spiderwick Chronicles". Metacritic. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ "Jumper vaults to No. 1". EW.com. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
Both also received sweet A- CinemaScore grades, portending leggy runs at the box office…for at least another week.
- ^ "SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, THE (2008) A-". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^ Richard Corliss (February 15, 2008). "Run from Jumper, Creep Toward Spiderwick". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- ^ Justin Change (February 10, 2008). "The Spiderwick Chronicles". Variety. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- ^ Peter Sobczynski (February 14, 2008). "The Spiderwick Chronicles". eFilmCritic.com. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- ^ A. O. Scott (February 14, 2008). "A House Divided by Old Magic and New Residents". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- ^ Sean Axmaker (February 13, 2008). "'Spiderwick' looks pretty but offers little". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
- USA TODAY. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
Freddie Highmore does a fine job in a dual role as identical twins. The talented actor skillfully portrays two distinctive personas.
- ^ Elizabeth Weitzman (February 14, 2008). "'Spiderwick Chronicles' fantasy can grow on you". NY Daily News. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
Happily, Highmore has no trouble grasping the task at hand.
- ^ Ty Burr (February 14, 2008). "A creepy-crawly and digitized faerie tale". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
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.
- ^ "7th Annual VES Awards". visual effects society. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
- Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Archived from the originalon February 21, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2009.
- ^ "The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
- ^ "The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 26, 2023). "'The Spiderwick Chronicles' Not Going Forward At Disney+ As Part Of Content Cost-Cutting & Strategy Shift; Being Shopped By Paramount TV Studios". Deadline. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ Thompson, Jaden (February 21, 2024). "The Spiderwick Chronicles: Roku Debuts Trailer for Fantasy Series With Christian Slater After Disney+ Scrapped It". Variety. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
- ^ Brendan Sinclair (August 9, 2007). "Sierra snares Spiderwick Chronicles". GameSpot. Retrieved March 4, 2008.