Popular Movie Based On Children's Book Series Was Released 16 Years Ago Today
Popular Movie Based On Children's Book Series Was Released 16 Years Ago Today
Liz LindainFri, March 20, 2026 at 2:10 AM UTC
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"Zoo wee mama!"
Most of Generation Z and possibly even their parents remember the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Written by Jeff Kinney, the series of children's novels follows the life of middle school student Greg Heffley, who draws and writes his life through cartoons and diary entries. The first book, which was published in 2007, has since grown into a large franchise with numerous stories, including Rodrick Rules, Dog Days and The Getaway, as well as expanded into movies and other media. Selling over 300 million copies, Diary of a Wimpy Kid revolutionized literature by popularizing the illustrated "hybrid" novel format, engaging young children to read and defining the Gen Z pre-adolescent experience.
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid came about from my failure to become a newspaper cartoonist," Kinney admitted in a Disney+ interview. "I really just wanted to write, sort of, a long-form comic. It was the story of my life through a funhouse mirror."
Currently, there are 20 Diary of a Wimpy Kid books published, with the most recent being Partypooper in October 2025. A 21st book, titled Fight or Flight, is scheduled to be released this October.
Books are displayed during bestselling author Jeff Kinney's launch of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid #18: No Brainer' at El Segundo Performing Arts Center on October 24, 2023, in El Segundo, California. Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Abrams Books (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Abrams Books)
The film adaptation of the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid was announced in December 2008, almost two years after the book was published, with Thor Freudenthal signing as a director. Before production started in August 2009, Zachary Gordon joined the cast to play Greg and Rachael Harris played his mother. Other cast members included Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Chloë Grace Moretz, Steve Zahn, Ryan Grantham and Grayson Russell.
When the movie premiered 16 years ago by 20th Century Fox,Diary of a Wimpy Kid grossed $76 million total. Though it received mixed reviews, its success spawned a franchise, including three additional live-action sequels and five animated films. A book detailing the film's creation process, titled The Wimpy Kid Diary, was published the same year in 2010.
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"Jeff wrote it for the kids, but I found it to be kind of like a memoir for us, of everything we did," Capron, who plays Greg's best friend, Rowley Jefferson, in the films, told Sarah Backstage Pass about The Wimpy Kid Diary. "[Kinney] drew the director…he drew the producers. My mom was in there too! They even drew my dad in there."
Robert Capron and Zachary Gordon attend the premiere of "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on March 4, 2010 in New York City. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
Three more movies for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid were released in 2011, 2012 and 2017 respectively. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was in theaters in March 2011, and it was based on the second book in the series, Rodrick Rules. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days was released on August 3, 2012, and is based on the third and fourth books from the series, The Last Straw and Dog Days. Lastly, a film based on The Long Haul was released in May 2017 that featured a new cast starring Jason Drucker, Alicia Silverstone and Tom Everett Scott, but received negative reviews.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid can be streamed on Disney+, as well as rented for $3.99 on YouTube, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video and Fandango at Home.
Related: 1997 Best-Selling Hit Listed as ‘Most Popular Book’ on Goodreads
Related: Film Based on '90s Novel Ranked Best Movie of 2025
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Movies section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
