Uncovering a secret world
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5:00AM
Thursday April 10, 2008
A scene from the Spiderwick Chronicles. Photo / Supplied by Paramount
The stars of The Spiderwick Chronicles talk to Helen Barlow about bringing yet another fantasy series to life on the big screen
When the Harry Potter movies became a worldwide box office sensation for Warner Brothers, other Hollywood studios were eager to emulate that success. Paramount put all its weight behind turning the five slender volumes called The Spiderwick Chonicles into a big-budget family movie. After all, the books had sold millions and had been translated into 30 languages, so it seemed like a good idea.
Authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black met in 1996 when Black interviewed DiTerlizzi about his artwork for Dungeons and Dragons.
Finding they had a shared a love of the gothic and macabre - in particular fairies - they became instant friends and colleagues. They came up with the idea of a creating a Field Guide to Trolls and Goblins about a character who could see into the fairyworld, and this became the basis for The Spiderwick Chronicles, where the ominous Spiderwick mansion is as much a character as Hogwarts is in the Harry Potter stories.
The movie draws on elements from the five books. The story tells of a recently separated mum, Helen Grace, (Mary Louise Parker) arriving with her daughter Mallory (Dubliner Sarah Bolger) and twin sons Jared and Simon (both played by Londoner Freddie Highmore) to live in Spiderwick, a mansion formerly the home of the kids' great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) and great-aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright).
