The Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise is one that’s near and dear to my heart. I’ve been reading the books since they debuted in 2007 and I still buy them yearly. I loved the first trilogy and really enjoyed 2021’s animated version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Recently, I was given the opportunity to speak with Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney during the press junket for the animated film, Rodrick Rules, now streaming on Disney+. When I asked him about the future of the franchise, not only did I ask about adapting The Last Straw, something he confirmed, but I also asked him about adapting the spin-off focused on Rowley Jefferson, Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid. Gere’s what he had to say:

We’ve talked about that and I think that once we get a few Wimpy Kid movies under our belt then it might be time to branch out. I’d really like to do that one. I see [Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid] on your green screen (EDITORS NOTE: Being the massive Wimpy Kid fan that I am, I took a photo of all 26 Wimpy Kid books I own and used it as my background during my time with Kinney) as well as Diary of an Awesome Friendly Adventure which is actually my favourite Wimpy Kid book of all the books. It came out during the pandemic so it didn’t get a lot of attention but I really like that book and I think that would be really fun to adapt as an animated film.

Jeff Kinney

The Awesome Friendly spin-off series began in 2019 and two sequels, titled Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure and Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories, released in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Kinney has also confirmed that a fourth Awesome Friendly book is in the works

“The first thing you need to know about me is that I am Greg Heffley’s best friend,” Rowley Jefferson writes in his journal. “I know it says that on the cover but I wanted to mention it in case you missed that part.”

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is now streaming on Disney+. Stay tuned for more from our conversation with Jeff Kinney soon!