After an attempt at getting a movie off the ground back in 2008, the Artemis Fowl film was set for an August 2019 debut. That ended up being pushed back to its current May 29th, 2020 release date where it’s got a lot riding on its $125 million budget. With its first trailer earlier this year, the fate of the film was altered thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of theaters. Disney is going to have so many movies backlogged they’ll be able to do one big premiere a week for the remainder of the year when things start up. So some of their second and third-tier films are getting Disney+ streaming to ease the crunch and to drive audiences toward new content. We knew that Artemis Fowl was going in this direction as of earlier this month but now it’s been scheduled for a June 12th, 2020 debut and a new Disney+ branded cut trailer for it has been released.
“With audiences largely unable to attend theatres in the current environment, we are thrilled to offer the premiere of Artemis Fowl on Disney+,” said Ricky Strauss, President, Content & Marketing, Disney+ in a statement earlier this month. “Director Kenneth Branagh and his spectacular cast take viewers right into the vibrant, fantasy world of the beloved book, which fans have been waiting to see brought to life onscreen for years. It’s great family entertainment that is the perfect addition to Disney+’s summer lineup.”
The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh based on the screenplay by Conor McPherson and Hamish McColl. The original novels come from Eoin Colfer.
The main cast includes Ferdia Shaw as Artemis Fowl II, Lara McDonnell as Holly Short, Josh Gad as Mulch Diggums, Tamara Smart as Juliet Butler, Nonso Anozie as Domovoi Butler, Colin Farrell as Artemis Fowl I, and Judi Dench as Commander Root.
Property concept: Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius-and, above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories; these fairies are armed and dangerous.
