Disney+ Project Canceled, Despite Already Being Filmed

In early August, The Walt Disney Company held its third-quarter earnings call. During the call, the company was forced to address the constant headache that is Disney+. Disney+ launched in 2019, just months before the pandemic hit. The streamer quickly gained tens of millions of subscribers, but things went downhill quickly. Every quarter, Disney+ loses millions of subscribers and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Disney was going to be more cautious and picky when it comes to the content it produces for Disney+. He said that Disney had been so focused on the amount of content it made, that it had focused less on quality. The company would be taking a harder look at what it produced, cutting the budgets of most productions, and canceling shows that were underperforming.

Part of the Disney+ overhaul has also been the purging of a number of television shows and movies. Iger said that some content cost more money to keep on Disney+ than it was making. Disney has spent more than $2 billion to remove content from Disney+. This includes shows like Willow, Big Shot, Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, and Turner & Hooch. National Treasure: Edge of History was canceled after one season, but remains on the streamer with the two National Treasure movies.

It is now being reported that Disney has decided to cancel another series meant for Disney+. However, this show has not yet launched on the streaming platform. What makes this even stranger is that Disney has already spent the money to film the series.

That series is The Spiderwick Chronicles.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a fantasy book series that tells the story of the adventures of the Grace children — Simon, Jared, and Mallory. The three children move into Spiderwick Estates and discover a world full of magical creatures. A movie of the same name was released in 2008, starring Freddie Highmore, Mary Louise Parker, Martin Short, and Seth Rogen.

Deadline Hollywood was the first to report on the decision from Disney.

Amid a focus on content curation and Disney-owned IP, Disney+ is not proceeding with The Spiderwick Chronicles, its live-action series adaptation of the popular children’s fantasy books, Deadline has learned.

The eight-episode series, from Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television, has been completed. It is currently being shopped by Paramount to other potential buyers.

It should be noted that the original film was released by Paramount Pictures. So, it would make sense for Disney to reach out to them first. Paramount has its own streaming platform — Paramount+ — so the studio could decide to purchase the series. Paramount could then have both the movie and the series in one place.

The new Spiderwick Chronicles series stars Noah Cottrell as Simon Grace, Mychala Lee as Mallory Grace, and Lyon Daniels as Jared Grace. Joy Bryant plays Helen Grace, Hunter Dillon is Hatcher, Jack Dylan Grazer portrays Thimbletack, and Alyvia Alyn Lind plays Calliope.