The long-gestating Artemis Fowl movie may not be what fans are expecting

Talks of an Artemis Fowl movie have circulated since 2001 and now, finally, 19 years later the boy criminal mastermind gets his due on the big screen.

Hardcore fans of the book, however, might be a bit surprised to learn that the plot of the movie deviates entirely from the first book. Instead, it seems to be a sort of hybrid between the first book, wherein Artemis first encounters Fairies, and the second, in which he and his new Fairy pals team up to save his father from the Russian mafia. Another key difference seems to be that in the movie, Artemis discovers the fairy world after his father’s disappearance, whereas in the books he just goes ahead and kidnaps a fairy, because he’s a little shit.

This particular version of Artemis Fowl, directed by Kenneth Branagh (Cinderella, Hamlet) has been in the works since 2015. The film had an original release date in August 2019, but was pushed back — seven billion-dollar movies may have been enough for one year for Disney. Artemis Fowl stars Ferdia Shaw as Artemis, Lara McDonnell as Holly Short, Josh Gad as Mulch, and Colin Farrell as Artemis’ dad (also named Artemis).

Artemis Fowl hits theaters on May 29.

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Petrana Radulovic
Polygon