Nancy Drew (2002 film)

Nancy Drew is a television film directed by James Frawley and written by Ami Canaan Mann. It stars Maggie Lawson as teen sleuth Nancy Drew, who heads off to college and finds yet another mystery to solve. The film first aired on December 15, 2002, on ABC.

Nancy Drew begins college with her two best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, at River Heights University. After the star football player goes into a coma, Nancy investigates, finding a campus-wide conspiracy and a fraternity's drug use.

Production on the pilot began in March 2002 in Los Angeles. ABC decided not to include it on the fall 2002 schedule, so they aired it as a part of The Wonderful World of Walt Disney in order to see how it would do for a possible mid-season replacement. However, despite ordering extra scripts, ABC decided in January 2003 to not pick it up. Had the series been picked up, it would have been the second Nancy Drew series to air on ABC. It was also dedicated to the original author of the Nancy Drew books, Mildred Wirt Benson (who had died in May 2002).

The songs "Analyze" (by The Cranberries), "Fade Into You" (by Mazzy Starr), and "I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll" (by Leona Naess) were used.

Originally scheduled to air Sunday, October 20, 2002, the film was aired on ABC on Sunday, December 15, 2002, as a part of The Wonderful World of Disney. It was watched by 7.5 million people, placing in third for its time slot.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film no review, although the audience gives the film mixed reviews. Laura Fries, of Variety, states, "Nancy Drew is off her game. The plucky heroine from the books of Mildred Wirt Benson, aka Caroline Keene, just doesn't have the same relevance she once did, and while ABC's updated version for the Wonderful World of Disney is a slick, earnest effort, it's way out of place."

Despite mixed reviews, Nancy Drew was nominated for a 2003 Prism Award under the category "Movie or Miniseries for Television."