City Of Bones Movie.com: A Fan-Run Website

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CityOfBonesMovie.com was a fan-run website dedicated to unofficial coverage of news surrounding Cassandra Clare's work, with particular interest in the City of Bones movie. This website was not affiliated with Sony Productions or Cassandra Clare. This website was a labor of love in admiration of the books and soon-to-be movies. Materials posted here such as pictures, audio files, and videos were gathered online.

The original creators of this website did not claim any ownership of these materials.
Content is from the site's 2011-2012 archived pages and other sources.

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The Mortal Instruments Series / Shadowhunters
1. City of Bones, 2007 (Shadowhunters, City of Ossa, 2007) 
2. City of Ashes, 2008 (Shadowhunters, City of Cenere, 2008) 
3. City of Glass, 2009 (Shadowhunters, City of Glass, 2009,  4. City of Fallen Angels, 2011 (Shadowhunters, City of the Fallen Angels, 2011, to be read preferably, but not necessarily, after Shadowhunters.) Origins The Angel , see below) 
5. City of Lost Souls (expected, in America , for May 2012) 
6. City of Heavenly Fire (expected, in America, for September 2013)

 

Trailer The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

 

 

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POSTS & Comments

 

 

One word: SHADOWHUNTER

ok, two more: I’m flusting.

can’t stop myself…3 more a few more: doubters go pick your toenails and die a horribly painful and embarrassing death cuz I can’t stand your constant negative and ignoramous-revealing banter.

 

 

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More Background On CityOfBonesMovie.com

 

CityOfBonesMovie.com preserves a fascinating piece of early-2010s young-adult fandom: the period when readers of Cassandra Clare’s bestselling The Mortal Instruments novels were waiting to see whether the Shadowhunter world they knew from the books could successfully make the transition to the big screen.

The website was not the official site for the 2013 film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Instead, CityOfBonesMovie.com was an independently operated fan site devoted to news, rumors, casting, interviews, fan artwork, videos and discussion surrounding Clare’s books and the developing movie adaptation.

That distinction is important. CityOfBonesMovie.com explicitly described itself as a fan-run project and stated that it was not affiliated with Cassandra Clare or Sony. Its administrators characterized the project as a labor of love created by admirers of the books and the anticipated movies.

Looking back at the site today provides more than a record of an individual fantasy movie. It offers a snapshot of the way online fandom operated just before social networks became the dominant places for entertainment communities. Individual fan sites could serve simultaneously as news sources, discussion boards, rumor centers and gathering places where readers debated nearly every production decision Hollywood made.

The Origins of CityOfBonesMovie.com

CityOfBonesMovie.com emerged during the period when plans to turn City of Bones into a feature film were generating intense interest among readers of The Mortal Instruments.

Cassandra Clare’s first City of Bones novel had been published in 2007. It introduced readers to Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary New York teenager who discovers a hidden supernatural world populated by demons, vampires, werewolves, warlocks and Shadowhunters — warriors descended from angels and charged with protecting humans from demons.

City of Bones was followed by City of Ashes in 2008 and City of Glass in 2009. City of Fallen Angels arrived in 2011, while City of Lost Souls followed in 2012 and City of Heavenly Fire eventually completed the original six-book Mortal Instruments sequence in 2014.

By the beginning of the 2010s, the series had developed the kind of passionate young-adult readership that made a movie adaptation commercially attractive.

The film rights had actually been optioned earlier. Cassandra Clare has explained that Unique Features optioned The Mortal Instruments film rights in 2009. Unique subsequently partnered with German film and television company Constantin Film, while Screen Gems became the U.S. distributor.

That meant the movie project was already developing at precisely the time that CityOfBonesMovie.com was chronicling casting rumors and production news.

An Unofficial Site Rather Than a Studio Marketing Website

Anyone encountering the domain name CityOfBonesMovie.com could reasonably assume that it had once been the official website of the film.

It was not.

The distinction between CityOfBonesMovie.com and the official movie operation is one of the most useful facts for understanding the domain’s history.

The original fan site made clear that its administrators were independent enthusiasts. Photographs, videos, audio and other materials appearing on the site had generally been gathered from material circulating elsewhere online, and the administrators did not claim ownership of those materials.

Contemporary film-industry coverage identifies TheMortalInstrumentsMovie.com, rather than CityOfBonesMovie.com, as the movie’s official website.

CityOfBonesMovie.com therefore occupied the other side of the entertainment ecosystem: the audience side.

Instead of promoting the film according to a studio marketing schedule, its administrators could react to news like ordinary fans. They could speculate, celebrate, complain, joke about casting and ask visitors what they thought.

That informal relationship with its readers became one of the site's defining characteristics.

What Visitors Found on CityOfBonesMovie.com

The website functioned much like an entertainment blog organized around one highly anticipated property.

Its content included movie-development news, casting announcements, interviews, photographs, fan artwork and discussions about the actors being considered for major roles.

The site's surviving material is particularly revealing because posts were accompanied by active comment sections.

Rather than merely reading an announcement, visitors could immediately debate it.

Posts preserved from 2011 and early 2012 show the site following Jamie Campbell Bower particularly closely. There were stories about interviews, photographs, his previous acting work, his appearance and what he might look like once transformed into Jace Wayland.

One post highlighted a fan-created image manipulating a photograph of Bower to make him look more like Jace. Visitors immediately began discussing such details as his hair length, curls, clothing, physique and facial expression.

Another featured a caricature of the actor.

The site also shared interviews concerning Bower’s work on projects including Camelot and Twilight and tried to interpret them through the lens of his forthcoming role as Jace.

This was fandom functioning in real time.

The Great Jace Casting Debate

Few topics illustrate CityOfBonesMovie.com better than the casting of Jamie Campbell Bower.

Jace Wayland was one of the most important and intensely imagined characters in Cassandra Clare’s books. Readers had spent years developing their own mental image of him.

When Bower was officially selected, CityOfBonesMovie.com published the news on May 31, 2011.

The response was enormous.

The post accumulated dozens of comments representing almost every conceivable reaction. Some readers were thrilled. Others disliked the choice. Still others initially opposed the casting but said they were willing to reserve judgment until they saw Bower transformed into the character.

A significant part of the disagreement centered on appearance. Fans debated whether Bower was muscular enough, whether his hair looked right, whether he appeared too delicate and whether his previous work demonstrated that he possessed the personality necessary to play Jace.

Alex Pettyfer's name repeatedly appeared in the discussions because some fans had strongly favored him for the part.

The conversation could become heated, but that is exactly why these archived discussions are historically interesting. They preserve an unfiltered record of how strongly readers can identify fictional characters with the images they have constructed while reading.

This phenomenon is now routinely visible across TikTok, X, Instagram and Reddit whenever a popular book receives a screen adaptation. CityOfBonesMovie.com captured essentially the same behavior in the blog-and-comment era.

From City of Bones the Book to City of Bones the Movie

The eventual film was formally titled The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

Harald Zwart directed from a screenplay by Jessica Postigo. Lily Collins played Clary Fray, while Jamie Campbell Bower portrayed Jace.

The ensemble also included Robert Sheehan as Simon Lewis, Jemima West as Isabelle Lightwood, Kevin Zegers as Alec Lightwood, Lena Headey as Jocelyn Fray, Jared Harris as Hodge Starkweather, Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Valentine Morgenstern.

Clare herself has explained that she did not control the film adaptation. Although filmmakers consulted her and sometimes asked for advice, she was not a member of the production team and therefore did not have final authority over the adaptation.

That is another useful piece of context for understanding the intense fan speculation that sites such as CityOfBonesMovie.com hosted. Readers sometimes looked to Clare for reassurance about casting and adaptation choices, even though many of those decisions ultimately belonged to the filmmakers.

Production and Filming

Principal photography began in August 2012.

Although the story is strongly associated with New York City, much of the production took place in and around Toronto, Ontario, with additional filming associated with Hamilton and New York.

Toronto architecture provided filmmakers with several locations capable of standing in for the supernatural version of New York imagined in the story.

Among the recognizable locations associated with the production were Knox College at the University of Toronto and Allan Gardens Conservatory. Toronto's Gothic and historic architecture was particularly well suited to the Shadowhunter aesthetic.

The production therefore had an interesting geographic identity. The story was rooted in New York, but much of its cinematic world was physically constructed in Canada.

For fans interested in movie locations, Toronto remains closely associated with both the City of Bones film and the later Shadowhunters television adaptation.

The Film's Story

The film follows Clary Fray as her ordinary life in New York begins to disintegrate.

After witnessing something at a nightclub that other people seemingly cannot see, she becomes increasingly aware of a hidden supernatural reality. Her mother disappears, and Clary discovers that her family history is connected to the Shadowhunters.

Jace and his fellow Shadowhunters help introduce her to a world existing alongside everyday New York.

At the center of the story is the Mortal Cup, an important object sought by Valentine, whose ambitions threaten both Shadowhunters and the wider world.

The movie combined fantasy, romance, action, supernatural mythology and young-adult drama — ingredients that studios hoped could appeal to the enormous audience that had supported other book-derived franchises.

The Movie Arrives in 2013

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones opened theatrically in the United States on August 21, 2013.

The film had an estimated production budget of about $60 million.

Box Office Mojo records approximately $31.2 million in domestic theatrical revenue and about $64.2 million internationally, producing roughly $95.4 million worldwide.

That worldwide total was significantly higher than the production budget alone, but theatrical grosses are not equivalent to money returned directly to a studio. Theater owners retain part of ticket revenue, while advertising, distribution and other expenses add substantially to the cost of releasing a major motion picture.

Consequently, the movie was widely regarded within the entertainment industry as a financial disappointment rather than the beginning of the major film franchise its producers had hoped to establish.

Its domestic opening weekend was approximately $9.3 million.

Reviews Were Much Less Enthusiastic Than the Fandom

Professional critical reaction was generally negative.

Rotten Tomatoes records a 13 percent critics score based on 127 reviews, while its audience score is substantially higher. Metacritic's collection of contemporary reviews produced a Metascore of 33.

That gap between professional critics and a significant portion of the fan audience is important.

Critics frequently complained that the movie was overcomplicated, derivative of other young-adult fantasy franchises or overloaded with exposition. Some also argued that the movie attempted to introduce too much mythology at once.

Yet many established Mortal Instruments readers approached it differently. They were already emotionally invested in Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus and the Shadowhunter world. For those viewers, simply seeing favorite characters, runes, locations and relationships visualized could be part of the attraction.

CityOfBonesMovie.com existed primarily for that audience rather than for professional film critics.

Awards and Recognition

Despite the film's difficult critical reception, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones did receive recognition in several areas.

The production received Canadian Screen Award recognition, including wins connected with sound editing, overall sound and makeup. Its production design and costume work also received nominations.

The film was additionally nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category.

Lily Collins received recognition connected with the MTV Movie Awards, and the movie appeared in other youth-oriented awards programs.

These nominations and technical honors illustrate a distinction that box-office summaries can obscure. Even a movie that struggles commercially or critically can contain individual elements — makeup, sound, design, costumes or performances — that attract professional or audience recognition.

Music Was an Important Part of the Movie's Identity

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones also received a substantial soundtrack campaign.

The soundtrack included performers such as Demi Lovato, Zedd, Colbie Caillat, Jessie J and AFI, while Ariana Grande and Nathan Sykes contributed "Almost Is Never Enough."

Atli Örvarsson composed the film's score.

The soundtrack reached No. 32 on the Billboard 200, giving the property a musical presence beyond the movie itself.

Music was especially useful for a project marketed toward a young audience because it extended the film's identity into music videos, downloads, promotional singles and fan playlists.

The Planned City of Ashes Sequel

Before City of Bones even reached theaters, there were plans to continue the series with The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes.

That made commercial sense on paper. Cassandra Clare had already created an extensive literary series, the principal cast had been established, and the producers hoped they were launching a continuing franchise.

City of Ashes was expected to reunite major cast members, and Sigourney Weaver was reported as a potential addition.

Production was supposed to begin soon after the first film's release.

Then the box-office results changed the situation.

In September 2013, Constantin Film postponed production. Company representatives said additional time was needed to reconsider the project and reposition the franchise in the marketplace.

The movie sequel never materialized.

For a website built around excitement over a developing City of Bones movie franchise, this represented a major change. The expected continuing stream of film casting, production photographs, trailers and sequel news largely disappeared.

The Shadowhunter Story Continued on Television

The failure to establish a theatrical franchise did not end The Mortal Instruments as a screen property.

The books eventually received another adaptation through Shadowhunters, the television series that premiered in 2016 on Freeform.

Katherine McNamara became Clary Fray and Dominic Sherwood played Jace, effectively rebooting the story with a new cast and a format capable of exploring Clare's mythology over multiple episodes and seasons.

Shadowhunters ultimately ran for three seasons.

The transition from an unsuccessful film franchise to a television adaptation demonstrated the underlying strength of Cassandra Clare's fictional universe. City of Bones may not have generated the expected movie sequels, but the characters and Shadowhunter mythology retained a sufficiently committed audience to justify another major screen adaptation.

The Audience for CityOfBonesMovie.com

The surviving discussions suggest that CityOfBonesMovie.com appealed primarily to committed readers of The Mortal Instruments and people closely following the developing movie.

Teenage and young-adult readers were clearly important participants, but the comment sections were not exclusively populated by teenagers. Parents and older readers also participated.

Interests frequently overlapped with other major fantasy and young-adult properties of the era, particularly Twilight and Harry Potter.

This makes sense historically. During the late 2000s and early 2010s, Hollywood was aggressively searching for literary properties capable of becoming the next major youth-oriented film franchise.

The Hunger Games, Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, The Host, Divergent and The Mortal Instruments all became part of a much broader industry conversation about whether enormous book fandoms could be converted into equally large movie audiences.

CityOfBonesMovie.com provides a ground-level view of that period from the fans' perspective.

A Community Rather Than Simply a News Website

One of the most revealing features of CityOfBonesMovie.com was its comment section.

Visitors did not simply leave isolated reactions. They recognized one another, replied to earlier comments, exchanged jokes and continued conversations across posts.

Topics could drift considerably from the original article.

A discussion of Jamie Campbell Bower might turn into a conversation about tattoos, Twitter replies, merchandise or another actor. Readers joked with one another about bookmarks, shirts, posters and other fan items.

The result was closer to a small online community than a conventional entertainment-news publication.

This kind of interaction helps explain why independently operated fan websites mattered so much before fandom became heavily concentrated on large social platforms.

A fan site provided its community with a recognizable home.

Popularity and Engagement

There is insufficient reliable public evidence to assign CityOfBonesMovie.com a meaningful historical traffic ranking or verified visitor count.

Its surviving comment activity, however, demonstrates genuine engagement.

A post announcing Jamie Campbell Bower's casting as Jace generated 58 comments, while another fan-created image of Bower as Jace generated more than 40.

For a narrowly focused independent fan blog in 2011, those discussions show that visitors were not merely landing on pages from search engines and leaving. At least part of the audience returned, interacted with other readers and treated the site as a community.

That kind of qualitative engagement is often more informative about a historic fan site's significance than unsupported estimates of traffic.

Ownership and Location

The historical material identifies CityOfBonesMovie.com as fan operated but does not establish a formal corporate owner or conventional physical headquarters for the original site.

That is consistent with the nature of many entertainment fan blogs of the period. They were frequently personal or small-group projects maintained remotely rather than businesses with offices, employees and public corporate identities.

This also means that CityOfBonesMovie.com should not be confused with the companies responsible for producing or distributing The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

Those included Unique Features, Constantin Film and Screen Gems/Sony Pictures.

The fan site reported and reacted to their work; it was not part of those organizations.

Why CityOfBonesMovie.com Is Culturally Interesting

CityOfBonesMovie.com is most interesting today as a record of participatory fandom.

The web of the late 2000s and early 2010s was filled with sites dedicated to individual books, actors, television programs and movies. WordPress-style blogs, forums and fan sites often performed functions that have since migrated to Reddit communities, TikTok accounts, Discord servers, Facebook groups, Instagram fan pages and X threads.

Fans did not merely consume entertainment marketing. They analyzed casting, created artwork, circulated photographs, tracked interviews, debated rumors and generated their own publicity for properties they loved.

In that respect, sites such as CityOfBonesMovie.com formed an unofficial marketing network around Hollywood adaptations.

No studio could completely control those conversations.

A casting announcement might generate celebration on one site and outrage on another. Fans could collectively scrutinize an actor's hair, physique, previous roles and interviews months or even years before seeing a finished movie.

CityOfBonesMovie.com preserves exactly that kind of conversation.

What the Site Tells Us About Fan Casting

The site's Jamie Campbell Bower discussions also illustrate why casting established literary characters can be unusually difficult.

A screenplay gives a filmmaker a character to cast.

A bestselling novel gives a filmmaker millions of individually imagined versions of that character.

Every reader has constructed a private Jace.

Consequently, an actor does not merely have to fit a director's interpretation. In the eyes of the fandom, the actor is competing with mental images readers may have carried for years.

The archived CityOfBonesMovie.com reactions reveal this process with unusual clarity. Fans scrutinized Bower before production had even begun, trying to decide whether hair, clothing, makeup, physical training and acting could transform him into "their" Jace.

The same phenomenon continues whenever a beloved novel, comic or video game receives a screen adaptation.

From Anticipation to Digital Time Capsule

CityOfBonesMovie.com originally looked forward.

Its purpose was anticipation: Who would be cast? When would production begin? What would Jace look like? Would the script work? When would fans get a trailer? Would City of Bones become the next huge fantasy franchise?

Today its value is almost the reverse.

The site looks backward.

Its old posts preserve the uncertainty that existed before anyone knew how the movie would perform. Modern readers already know that City of Bones opened in 2013, received largely negative reviews, earned roughly $95 million worldwide against its reported $60 million production budget and failed to launch the planned theatrical series.

The people writing comments in 2011 did not know any of that.

They were still waiting.

That makes CityOfBonesMovie.com a small digital time capsule of a fandom imagining a future that ultimately unfolded very differently.

The Legacy of CityOfBonesMovie.com

The importance of CityOfBonesMovie.com is not that it became a giant entertainment publication or an official part of The Mortal Instruments franchise.

It did neither.

Its significance lies in what it preserved.

The website captured the period between the success of Cassandra Clare's novels and the release of their first major screen adaptation. It documented casting excitement, fan disappointment, speculation, artwork, interviews and the everyday conversations of readers who cared deeply about the Shadowhunter world.

The film itself did not become the franchise starter its producers hoped it would be. The planned City of Ashes sequel was postponed and ultimately abandoned, and the property was later reinvented for television as Shadowhunters.

But the enthusiasm represented by CityOfBonesMovie.com did not disappear.

It was evidence that The Mortal Instruments had developed something more durable than a single movie audience: a fandom.

For visitors discovering the domain today, CityOfBonesMovie.com is therefore best understood not simply as a website about a 2013 fantasy movie, but as an artifact from a particular stage in Internet culture — when independent fan blogs could become gathering places where readers collectively experienced the long, unpredictable process of watching a favorite book become a movie.

 

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