According to Deadline, Disney+ has just cast up-and-coming actors Momona Tamada (The Baby-Sitters Club, the To All the Boys trilogy) and Alyvia Alyn Lind (Chucky, Coat of Many Colors) in the series adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles. The young stars will each play heavily recurring roles opposite Christian Slater (Interview with the Vampire, Heathers), Noah Cottrell (Punky Brewster, Skyscraper), and Lyon Daniels (We Can Be Heroes, Patriot).
The Spiderwick Chronicles is based on the bestselling book series by authors Tony DeTerlizzi (Kenny & the Dragon, The Search for Wondla) and Holly Black (The Iron Trial, Book of Night) and will serve as a soft reboot of the 2008 film adaptation of the same name. The story follows twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, older sister Mallory Grace, and their over-protective mother, Helen, who reluctantly move from their cozy lives in New York City to their dilapidated ancestral home (formally known as The Spiderwick Estate) in rural Michigan, only to find themselves pulled into a mythical world chock-full of fantasy and adventure.
As written by Deadline, Tamada will portray Emiko, a local teenage girl and diagnosed pathological liar from the small town of Henson, Michigan who is also a member of the out-patient group therapy at the nearby Meskwaki Psychiatric Hospital. Lind will play the character of Calliope, a seemingly average girl who is actually a Fetch, or messenger of death, that has donned a human form in order to watch over the villainous, shapeshifting ogre, Mulgarath (played by Slater), so that she can aid him in his mission to locate the elusive and valuable Spiderwick’s Field Guide.
Kat Coiro (She-Hulk, Marry Me) is slated to direct the series’ first two episodes and will also serve as an executive producer alongside DeTerlizzi, Black, Ellen-Goldsmith Vein (Wendell & Wild, the Maze Runner trilogy), Jeremy Bell (Abduction, Escape Plan), D.J. Goldberg (Whiteout, The Factory), Julie Kane-Ritsch (The Spiderwick Chronicles (film), Dead Space: Downfall), and Grace Gilroy (Alien v.s. Predator, Death Race). The Spiderwick Chronicles will be produced by Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television with Aron Eli Coleite (Locke & Key, Daybreak) as showrunner.