Disney+’s take on The Spiderwick Chronicles has officially found its latest star. On Tuesday, a new report from Variety revealed that Parenthood and Good Girls Revolt alum Joy Bryant has been cast in the upcoming live-action series. Bryant will play Helen Grace, the smart, loving, and strong mother of three teenagers. In the wake of her divorce, Helen uproots her family from their home in Brooklyn to her grandfather Arthur Spiderwick’s estate in Michigan. She is doing everything she can to provide for her family while also trying to help her son Jared resolve his mental health issues.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Spiderwick Chronicles book series, which is written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, follows the Grace Family — twin brothers Jared and Simon, their sister Mallory and mother Helen — as they move into their dilapidated ancestral home and begin to unravel a dark mystery about their great-great Uncle who once discovered the secret and maybe foreboding faerie world existing parallel to their own. Bryant will star on the series alongside previously-announced cast members Lyon Daniels, Noah Cottrell, and Christian Slater.
The Spiderwick Chronicles is executive produced by Aron Eli Coleite, who also serves as showrunner, Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, Kat Coiro, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg, and Julie Kane-Ritsch.
DiTerlizzi and Black’s book series consisted of five books — The Field Guide, The Seeing Stone, Lucinda’s Secret, the Ironwood Tree, and The Wrath of Mulgarath. It also spawned the spinoff series Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, which included the three novels The Nixie’s Song, A Giant Problem, and The Wyrm King.
“Hol and I had received many letters from kids telling us of their experiences with faeries, and I had been making field guides to dragons and monsters since I was a kid, so we knew there was something magic there,” DiTerlizzi explained in a 2008 interview with FanBolt. “And Holly knows that folklore so well. We thought it would be cool to tell a story of modern day kids thrust into the realm of faeries.”
“When Tony and I first met, one of the things we talked about was faery folklore so this was the perfect project for us to do together,” Black echoed. “We love the idea that kids might take the Field Guide and go out into their back yards or parks and look for evidence of faeries. If they do, they’ll probably find it.”
What do you think of latest update surrounding Disney+’s Spiderwick Chronicles TV show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.
