There is always a challenge when it comes to adapting books to movies. Much of what is on the page may not work on screen and even if it does, it might not translate quite the way that fans expect it to. And when the book being adapted is part of a series, there’s an expectation that the film might launch a franchise. Sometimes, it’s a gamble that works out, but often times it doesn’t and in the case of one underrated fantasy film, not only did the adaptation not land but it unfairly killed any hope for a franchise — but now you can stream it for free.
Now available to stream on Tubi, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is based on the first book in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series and stars Lily Collins as Clary Fray, a New York City teen who, while discovering her heritage and family history, meets a group of Nephilim called the Shadowhunters after the disappearance of her mother. Finding that she is descended from a line of these Shadowhunters, Clary joins with them to help protect humanity from evil and find and protect an ancient cup that is the key to her mother’s future. The film was savaged by critics when it was released in 2013 and performed poorly at the box office as well.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Had A Sequel in Development Before It Bombed
When The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was released, it was released with the intention that it would be the start of a full franchise so much so that a sequel based on Clare’s second book, City of Ashes, was already in development. Sigourney Weaver was set to join the cast for that second film but after City of Bones’ poor performance, the sequel was cancelled. It’s actually pretty disappointing that it was and that the franchise wasn’t given a chance to find its footing. City of Bones boasted a very impressive cast. Joining Collins was future Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Keven Zegers, Lena Headey, Kevin Durand, Aidan Turner, Jemima West, Godfrey Gao, CCH Pounder, Jared Harris, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and honestly, the issue was never with the cast.
The thing that makes City of Bones perhaps a less than stellar adaptation is that the movie just didn’t quite know how to put together the various elements from the novels which, to be fair, also revived their fair share of criticism for not being especially tight with its storytelling and tropes. The idea that the story would have worked better with some tweaks and changes actually ended up being proven correct a few years later when the story was adapted again, this time for television. In 2016, The Mortal Instruments got a second life as the television series Shadowhunters. That series, which starred Kat McNamara and Dominic Sherwood, ended up making some changes from the books, but they’re changes that worked well. The series ended up running for three seasons on Freeform.
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