Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced today that the release of the vfx-driven family fantasy flick The Spiderwick Chronicles has moved up a day to February 14, 2008. Originally scheduled to debut on a Friday, the movie will instead take a Thursday bow in order to get a jump on 20th Century Fox’s Jumper, a sci-fi thriller, about a time-traveling teenager.
Based on the best-selling series of books by Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi, The Spiderwick Chronicles has peculiar things happen to the Grace family when they move into the secluded old house owned by their great, great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick. The three youngest members of the family take it upon themselves to investigate the strange goings on and uncover the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate and of the creatures that inhabit it. The film stars Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright and David Strathairn, and features Seth Rogen and Martin Short in voice roles.
The movie is directed by Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday) and produced by Mark Canton (300) from a screenplay by Over the Hedge director Karey Kirkpatrick, David Berenbaum (Elf) and filmmaker John Sayles (Limbo). Kirkpatrick is also produced the movie, along with Larry Franco and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. Visual effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic and Tippett Studio.
