Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s teen fantasy novel Artemis Fowl is launching on Disney+ on June 12. It tells the story of a precocious young boy who find himself thrown into a fantastical world of magic, fairies, dwarves and elves that co-exists alongside our own.
The film adaptation of Artemis Fowl was first announced in 2001 as Harry Potter fever was reaching fever pitch. Shooting had wrapped on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — the fourth installment in J.K. Rowling’s blockbusting book series — was selling like hotcakes.
Every studio in Hollywood wanted a piece of the action, and many teen fantasy films were rushed into production, but Artemis Fowl took a while longer to come together and finally went before cameras in 2018. Originally scheduled for release in 2019, then pushed back to 2020, its theatrical release was eventually canceled as the coronavirus pandemic closed cinemas around the world.
However, one of its stars — Josh Gad, who plays the burglar dwarf Mulch Diggums — says comparisons to Harry Potter are unfair, but he hopes Artemis Fowl could fill the gap for Potter fans who miss the series.
“I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I grew up with the books, I grew up with the movies. There hasn’t been a Harry Potter in a long time — new Harry Potter. This feels like the answer to that,” Gad explained between takes when Yahoo visited the set back in 2018.
“I can’t tell you how many people come up to me, who tell me how important the Artemis Fowl books were to them as a kid. In many ways, I think Artemis is almost the antithesis to Harry. Whereas Harry is an empty vessel, who’s going on this journey of discovery. And there’s an innocence, that along the way becomes a little bit darkened by his experiences.”
In Colfer’s books, of which there have now been eight installments, young Artemis Fowl (played in the film by newcomer Ferdia Shaw) is presented as a young supervillain who is an antagonist to the world of fairies.
This article was originally posted on yahoo.com/entertainment/.
