Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has announced that filming is now underway on Artemis Fowl, director Kenneth Branagh’s (Murder on the Orient Express) adaptation of the first book of Eoin Colfer’s best-selling series of the same name. Here’s the official press release from Disney:
Descended from a long line of criminal masterminds, 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl finds himself in a battle of strength and cunning against a powerful, hidden race of fairies who may be behind his father’s disappearance.
Newcomer Ferdia Shaw plays the title character, with Lara McDonnell (“Love, Rosie”) playing Captain Holly Short, a feisty, spirited elf, who is kidnapped by Artemis for a ransom of fairy gold.
In the underground fairy world of Haven City, Academy Award-winner Dame Judi Dench (“Skyfall”) plays Commander Root, the leader of the reconnaissance division of the LEPrecon, the fairy police force, and Josh Gad (“Beauty and the Beast”) plays Mulch Diggums, a kleptomaniac dwarf, who attempts to help rescue Holly.
Above ground, Nonso Anozie (“Cinderella”) plays the Fowl family bodyguard, named Butler, and Tamara Smart (“The Worst Witch”) plays Butler’s niece Juliet. Miranda Raison (“Murder on the Orient Express”) plays Artemis’ mother Angeline.
Other members of the cast include Josh McGuire (“About Time”), Hong Chau (“Downsizing”), Nikesh Patel (“London Has Fallen”), Michael Abubakar (“Trust Me”), Jake Davies (“A Brilliant Young Mind”), Rachel Denning (“Doctor Who”), Matt Jessup (“Dread”), Simone Kirby (“Alice Through the Looking Glass”), Sally Messham (“Allied”) and Adrian Scarborough (“Les Misérables”).
