And the freaky supernatural creatures in Chronicles come courtesy of special effects. The director, Mark Waters, has Freaky Friday on his resume. David Strathairn ( Good Night, and Good Luck) shows up as Arthur Spiderwick, the estate's mysterious scion. Ormstown, an Anglo community southwest of Montréal, is sitting in for the equivalent of a Vermont hamlet.Īdapted from a series of books for youngsters aged 9 through 12, the film centers on a family that experiences phantasmagoria aplenty after moving to the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate.įreddie Highmore ( Finding Neverland) portrays adolescent twin brothers Sarah Bolger ( In America) inhabits the role of their sister. Hollywood often eschews geographic realism in favor of generous Canadian tax incentives. The numbers apparently looked better up north. 'The studio was just running numbers,' suggests Executive Director Danis Regal. The motion picture's heart seems to be in the right place, even if its money isn't.Īfter contacting the Vermont Film Commission a year ago to ask about possible financial breaks, Paramount officials never called back. Which might be anywhere in the Northeast. Hmm, isn't the outdoorsy clothing company actually in Maine? Khanna concedes that fact, adding hopefully: 'We have a Verizon phone booth.' Bean store,' explains Nutan Khanna, the production's product placement coordinator. A Ben & Jerry's scoop shop on the set has a local pedigree but resembles those found worldwide these days. Johnsbury's Maple Grove, fake Green Mountain State license plates - and a genuine Seven Days distribution rack. When the movie opens during Christmas 2007, audiences may think they're witnessing what the script describes as 'an unspecified Vermont town.' This Paramount film, shooting in Québec from mid-September through late January, is a sort of cinematic trompe l'oeil. In The Spiderwick Chronicles, Mary-Louise Parker appears as a rural New England mom whose kids encounter 'faeries' and ogres.

Spiderwick chronicles film location