Disney’s adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl has found its lead in newcomer, Ferdia Shaw. Director Kenneth Branagh met with more than 1,200 potential actors for the role of Artemis Fowl, but Shaw scored the part.
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Branagh has also nabbed his Murder on the Orient Express collaborators Josh Gad (as Mulch Diggums) and Dame Judi Dench (as Commander Root). Colfer’s book is being adapted into a screenplay by Irish playwright, Conor McPherson. Branagh has proven himself to be a masterclass actor and an indispensable voice as far as book adaptations go. He did play Gilderoy Lockhart, after all.
Colfer’s book centers around the 12-year-old master criminal, Artemis Fowl II, who kidnaps a fairy named Captain Holly Short (played by Lara McDonnell) and finds himself in hot water with the fairies.
Branagh will begin production on the adaptation early 2018, shooting for a release on August 9, 2019.
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