Principal photography began on August 23, 2010, and was completed on October 27, 2010, with filming taking place in Vancouver and New Westminster.

New main characters include Holly Hills (Peyton List), Grandpa (Terence Kelly), and Bill Walter (Fran Kranz).

Based on the third book The Last Straw and the fourth book Dog Days, the film was directed by David Bowers and features the same familiar cast of characters, introducing a few new ones, and also focusing on lesser characters not elaborated on in previous films, including Frank Heffley (Steve Zahn), Mr. Jefferson (Alf Humphreys) and Holly Hills (Peyton List).

Featuring an entirely new cast, the plot follows Greg and his brother, Rodrick, unwillingly being taken on a family road trip to their great-grandmother's house for her 90th birthday party.

Greg sees this as an opportunity to meet his Internet idol, Mac Digby, and get people to forget about him being dubbed as a meme known as "Diaper Hands".

In August 2018, 20th Century Fox CEO Stacey Snider announced that a fully animated television series based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid was in development.

[5] On September 2, 2021, Disney officially confirmed that the new movie would be simply titled Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and would be released on December 3, 2021.

In an interview for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, Kinney stated he was working with FOX on a half-hour special based on Cabin Fever, which was scheduled to air in late-2014.

[citation needed] A separate adaptation was eventually released in 2023 as Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever.