Artemis Fowl (film)

This is a poster for Artemis Fowl. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, The Walt Disney Company, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist.

Artemis Fowl is an upcoming American science fantasy adventure film based on the first novel in the series of the same name by Eoin Colfer. Directed by Kenneth Branagh and written by Conor McPherson, the film stars Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Tamara Smart, Nonso Anozie, Josh Gad, and Judi Dench. It will be released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on May 29, 2020 in 3D and IMAX.
Premise

Disney's “Artemis Fowl,” based on the beloved book by Eoin Colfer, follows the journey of 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl, a descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, as he seeks to find his father who has mysteriously disappeared.

Production: Development

In 2001, plans were announced for a film adaptation of the series. Miramax Films was named as purchasing the film rights with Lawrence Guterman signed to direct. In 2003 Colfer stated that a screenplay had been finalized and that casting was due to start the same year but expressed skepticism over whether or not this would come to pass. The film remained in development and was assumed to be in development hell until 2011, when it was reported that Jim Sheridan was interested in directing the movie.

In July 2013, Walt Disney Pictures announced that an Artemis Fowl film covering the events of the first novel of the series would be produced by Disney and The Weinstein Company, with the screenplay by Michael Goldenberg. Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal signed onto the project as executive producers.

On September 1, 2015, Variety reported that Kenneth Branagh had been hired to direct the film for Disney, with Irish playwright Conor McPherson as screenwriter and Judy Hofflund as an executive producer. Eoin Colfer confirmed this in a video to Artemis Fowl Confidential, and spoke with RTE Radio 1 about meeting Branagh several times to discuss this prior to the announcement.  On September 12, 2017, Disney announced that the film adaptation will be released on August 9, 2019. The following month, Disney removed Harvey Weinstein as the producer of the film as well as terminating its production partnership with The Weinstein Company following a sexual misconduct scandal involving Weinstein.