Holly’s gone Hollywood

You might remember best-selling author Holly Black ’94 from the spring 2005 issue of TCNJ Magazine. At the time, her five-volume set of children’s books, The Spiderwick Chronicles, had just been optioned for filming. Production on the movie wrapped earlier this year, and the film is set for nationwide release in February 2008.

Words by Tony Marchetti ’96, MA ’02

Holly Black '94

You might remember best-selling author Holly Black ’94 from the spring 2005 issue of TCNJ Magazine. At the time, her five-volume set of children’s books, The Spiderwick Chronicles, had just been optioned for filming. Production on the movie wrapped earlier this year, and the film is set for nationwide release in February 2008.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is the story of twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace; their sister, Mallory; and their mother. After the Graces move into the Spiderwick Estate, they find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures. The books were both critical and financial success stories, thrilling readers of all ages and, in the process, selling millions of copies. The movie version of Spiderwickcondenses all five of Holly’s books into one film. A Spiderwick video game is also in the works and due out next year.

Holly Black ’94

“I’m giddy and thrilled and a little freaked out,” Holly said about having her beloved series of adventures turned into a movie. The film’s cast features some well-known Hollywood names, including Mary-Louise Parker, David Strathairn, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright, and Martin Short. “I was on the set and got to meet some of them and see some of the scenes being filmed, ” Holly said. “It was wonderful to see the characters come to life, walk around, and do things. The funniest scenes to watch were where Freddie Highmore had to play first one and then the other twin in the same scene. ”

Holly and the books’ illustrator, Tony DiTerlizzi, served as co-executive producers for the film. “We consulted on the script and Tony consulted on various things related to the visual aspects of the film. But, mostly, we knew that we had to put our trust in [Director] Mark Water ’s vision for the film, and we felt very comfortable doing that.”

The Nixie’s Song, Holly’s latest novel, was released in September and debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times’Children’s “Chapter Book” list. The book, which will be the first of a three-part series, is the story of 11-year-old Nicholas Vargas, who, after moving to Florida, discovers “a little nixie with a giant problem—the huge, lumbering, fire-breathing variety.” It’s up to Nicholas, his family, “and a familiar face from the originalSpiderwick Chronicles…to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke, ” Holly said.

The Nixie’s Song followed fast on the heels of last spring’s release of Holly’s book Ironside, which spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. That book was a sequel to Holly’s first novel, Tithe, and also included characters from her other novel, Valiant. Holly said that both Ironside and Valiant have been optioned for filming, so it’s possible she’ll be back on a movie set very soon.