Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Diary of a Wimpy Kid films
Official film series logo
Distributed by	20th Century Fox (2010–2017) Disney+ (2021)
Release date(s)	2010-present
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80,000,000 (Cumulative of 4 films)
Money made	$265,330,423 (Cumulative of 4 films)

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series, consists of family-comedie films, based on the series of books with the same name written by Jeff Kinney. The series consists of four theatrical films, and one animated short film.

The franchise will continue with a reboot in development in the form of an as-of-yet untitled animated film. The film will be released via streaming as a Disney+ exclusive.

Films

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)

Principal production began on September 21, 2009, and was completed on October 16, 2009. The film was directed by Thor Freudenthal and starred Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley, Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson, Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley, Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley, Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley, Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny Heffley, Chloë Grace Moretz as Angie Steadman, Grayson Russell as Fregley, Laine MacNeil as Patty Farrell, and Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta. It was the only film in the series to be directed by Freudenthal. The musical score was composed by Theodore Shapiro. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Diary of a Wimpy Kid was released March 19, 2010, as it moved up from a previously scheduled April 2 release date.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011)

Based on the second book, Rodrick Rules with elements from The Last Straw. Principal photography began on August 23, 2010, and was completed on October 27, 2010, with filming taking place in Vancouver and New Westminster. Rodrick Rules was directed by David Bowers, with Zachary Gordon reprising his role as Greg Heffley. New main characters include Holly Hills (Peyton List), Grandpa (Terence Kelly), and Bill Walter (Fran Kranz). Edward Shearmur composes the original score for the film. The film also received mixed reviews from critics. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was released on March 25, 2011.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)

Based on the third book The Last Straw and the fourth book Dog Days, the film was directed by David Bowers and features the same familiar cast of characters, introducing a few new ones, and also focusing on lesser characters not elaborated on in previous films, including Frank Heffley (Steve Zahn), Mr. Jefferson (Alf Humphreys) and Holly Hills (Peyton List). Dog Days is the last film to feature the original cast, as they had outgrown their roles after filming wrapped. The film also received mixed reviews from critics. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days was released on August 3, 2012.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017)

Featuring an entirely new cast, the plot follows Greg and his brother Rodrick unwillingly being taken on a family road trip to their great-grandmother's house for her 90th birthday. Greg sees this as an opportunity to meet his internet idol name Mac Digby, and get people to forget about him being dubbed as a meme known as "Diaper Hands". The film was panned by critics and audiences. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul was released on May 19, 2017.

Untitled film (2021)

Kinney has announced the possibility for an animated film to be based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever as the next installment. In an interview for the latest book Hard Luck, Jeff Kinney stated he was working with Fox on a half-hour special of Cabin Fever, which was to be aired in late 2014, but as of 2019 no updates on the special have been announced. In August 2018, CEO of 20th Century Fox Stacey Snider announced that a fully animated television series based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid was in development. On August 6, 2019, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the project was confirmed to be still in development for their streaming service, Disney+. In December 2020, the project was confirmed to have been redeveloped as an animated film. The project is scheduled to be released sometime in 2021.

Short film

An animated short film set after the events of the third film, titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Class Clown, was released on the home media release of Dog Days in 2012. The short is told through Rodricks's point-of-view as he explains his humurous experience. Zachary Gordon reprises his role as Greg Heffley along other cast members voicing their characters from the films in minor roles.

Principal cast and characters

• A dark grey cell indicates the character did not appear or that the character's presence has not yet been announced in that medium.
• An indicates an appearance through pre-recorded material.
• A indicates a singing role.
• A indicates the actor or actress was uncredited for their role.
• A indicates a performance through voice-work.
• A indicates an actor or actress portrayed a younger version of their character.

Crew