Disney And Harvey Weinstein Bringing Eoin Colfer's ARTEMIS FOWL To The Big Screen

Disney And Harvey Weinstein Bringing Eoin Colfer's ARTEMIS FOWL To The Big Screen

Disney have been struggling to find a new franchise, but it looks like they may have finally succeeded as the studio plans to move ahead with an adaptation of hit fantasy series, Artemis Fowl.

By JoshWilding - Jul 30, 2013 02:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Disney
The Walt Disney Studios is pleased to announce that it is in development on the film adaptation of Artemis Fowl with producer Harvey Weinstein. The live-action feature will be based on the first and second installments in Disney Publishing Worldwide’s best-selling children’s fiction series by author Eoin Colfer. The screenplay is being written by Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will executive produce the project.

“With its balance of mystery, adventure and family appeal, Artemis Fowl is a natural fit for Disney,” said Sean Bailey, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with Harvey on this exciting project.”

“Harvey is one of the preeminent producers in the industry, with impeccable taste and creative instincts,” added Alan Horn, chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “I had a wonderful time working with Harvey during my tenure at Warner Bros., and I’m very happy to continue that relationship here at Disney.”

“If you would have told me five years ago I would be producing a project with Disney I would have thought you were crazy,” said Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company. “I feel as though everything is coming full circle considering Bob DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal brought me this book while I was still at Miramax and within hours I told them I wanted the rights to the film. I am thrilled to be reunited with Alan Horn who I worked with while he was at Warner Bros. and we had tremendous success with The Aviator, Starsky and Hutch and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is also exciting to partner with friends Alan Bergman, Sean Bailey and of course Bob Iger who has been incredibly generous to me over the years. This is a special project for me because my children absolutely love this book. This story is for everyone and there is no one better than Disney to make a film that will excite people young and old.”

Artemis Fowl is about a 12-year-old Artemis who is a millionaire, a genius – and above all, a criminal mastermind. But Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy (Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit) to harness her magic to save his family. These aren’t the fairies of the bedtime stories – they’re dangerous.

The Artemis Fowl book series currently has more than 21 million copies in print in 44 languages worldwide.

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ahhmynuts
ahhmynuts - 7/30/2013, 3:10 AM
idk man. no one likes that fairy sh*t anymore
FrankieDedo
FrankieDedo - 7/30/2013, 3:15 AM
That book was really good. i read 3 of those when i was a kid. Very original. Eoin Colfer is a very good writer, just look at the sixth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide. Probably it will be a shit if disney make this...yeah, very disneyan: a 12-years old kid, uber-genius, more similar to tony stark than harry potter, that became a criminal boss, is not really for disney, in my opinion. If i remember correctly it was pretty violent too, especially the third.
PrinceOfCrime
PrinceOfCrime - 7/30/2013, 3:15 AM
awesome! I always wanted to read those books. Guess now I'll just wait for the movie :)
staypuffed
staypuffed - 7/30/2013, 3:27 AM
Tried to read the first book, boring as [frick], so I'm not very excited to hear this.
SugarYumYum
SugarYumYum - 7/30/2013, 3:33 AM
Never finished this series (no idea why tho) but the books I did read were pretty good.

I remember Artemis being a smart, egocentric little prick that I found just as amusing to see fail as to see him succeed. He's pretty easy to like though so hopefully they don't pull any bullshit and turn him into some generic hero.

Don't know how this would do at the BO though. Series of Unfortunate Events flopped and the first Percy Jackson had a lukewarm reception despite being very popular books. Then they were also shit movies so there's that to consider.
gambgel
gambgel - 7/30/2013, 3:51 AM
Good luck with this one, Disney :D
SeanMPC
SeanMPC - 7/30/2013, 4:13 AM
They BETTER keep the Irishness of it, have it set in Dublin & having him be Irish etc...it's essential to the story. I'll be majorly pissed if they don't.
THRILLHO
THRILLHO - 7/30/2013, 4:24 AM
JusticePourTous
JusticePourTous - 7/30/2013, 4:37 AM
The books were excellent, I was reading them throughout my late childhood/early teens. But I desperately don't want them to Americanise them, I don't think it would work. Also, I hope they don't make Artemis a good guy just to placate the studios. He is one of the best anti-heroes I have ever read.
comiccow6
comiccow6 - 7/30/2013, 5:50 AM
I hated the books. I loved the premise of Artimis. I mean, a crime lord with a huge butler/bodyguard, and an insane mom? That's awesome. But thentheythrew this fairy bullshit at us. The LEP is where the word leprechaun came m? No. Just... no.
NovaCorpsFan
NovaCorpsFan - 7/30/2013, 6:06 AM
Woo! I'ma audition for Artemis! They need an Irish teen, right?
DCwanabe
DCwanabe - 7/30/2013, 6:16 AM
Disney needs to get it together, last year it was John carter and this year the lone ranger. Im so glad these guys are handling star wars.
LeonNova
LeonNova - 7/30/2013, 6:58 AM
The books are pretty good, I'm like a high school senior now, and I haven't read any since middle school. I only read 5 I think, I'm sure I never finished the last 3, I might need to pick those up. I'm definitely interested in this, it seems to be in good hands, I hope they do the books justice.
mrHJK
mrHJK - 7/30/2013, 7:13 AM
I only read the first couple of books years ago, but the first is brilliant. It's a kidnapping/hostage situation where the audience gets absorbed by the Stockholm syndrome and root for the bad guy to win.
QuestiontheAnswer
QuestiontheAnswer - 7/30/2013, 7:35 AM
The word fairy probably will put people off from this adaptation of a great book series, not to mention Disney's failure at John Carter and Lone Ranger.
Ancar
Ancar - 7/30/2013, 10:07 AM
They will screw it all!!!
SwingsetKnight
SwingsetKnight - 7/30/2013, 10:10 AM
The thing nobody seemed to get at the time those books came out was that they were comedies. Dark comedies, sure, but the LEPrecon stuff was issued with tongue firmly in cheek.

The premise was taking twelve-year-old criminal mastermind and a goofy, over-the-top cast of fairy cops and playing that rather ludicrous premise almost completely for the lulz. Yes, the narrator's tone was very grim and thriller-esque, but that was supposed to be the humorous disjunction.

I hope Disney figures that out. An Artemis Fowl flick played earnest and serious is going to bomb hard.
Argetlam22
Argetlam22 - 7/30/2013, 10:24 AM
In my opinion, they would be better off making a television series instead of movies. It's got the perfect buildup for a show, instead of cutting half the details out to make a movie. You know they're going to take liberties with the material...and making it into a show would remove that necessity. Otherwise, they'll be forced to make sacrifices that might throw the adaptation off its game.
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