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Christian Slater to Star in Disney+’s ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’

Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) has signed on to star in Disney+’s upcoming series The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on the popular fantasy books.

According to Deadline, Slater is set to play the series’ villain Mulgarath (alter ego Dr. Dorian Brauer), a capital-V Villain who does what all ogres do — he eats people, an insatiable desire to consume. Mulgarath wants the secrets contained in Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Natural World for a nefarious scheme that will satisfy his hunger.

The Spiderwick Chronicles follows the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies that they never knew existed.

She-Hulk director, Kat Coiro is set to direct the series’ first two episodes. She will also executive produce the series. Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, who wrote and illustrated the books together, will also serve as executive producers of the series. Paramount Television Studios and 20th Television are producing the series. Aron Eli Coleite (Locke & Key) is the showrunner. Casting is currently underway.

The Spiderwick Chronicles were originally published in five installments between 2003 and 2004. The books made their way to the New York Times bestselling list alongside other children’s series of the time like Artemis Fowl and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Later, the two authors collaborated again on a spin-off series titled Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles. In 2008, a film adaptation was released by Paramount which sought to cover the events of the original five books. Like the film adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, it followed a similar pattern of significantly condensing the story by including several books into one film. This upcoming adaptation for Disney+ will likely allow for more room for the story to breathe and the events to unfold in a more natural pace.

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