Disney has officially begun production on the upcoming adaptation of the best-selling children’s novels, Artemis Fowl. The Kenneth Branagh-directed feature will film in England, Northern Ireland and Ho Chi Minh City. The book was adapted for the screen by award-winning playwright Conor McPherson.

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.

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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.

This film continues Disney’s trend of adapting beloved novels, the last of which was last weekend’s A Wrinkle in Time, which received mixed-to-negative reviews. While that one marks a rare stumble for Disney, the material is different between that story and Artemis Fowl is different enough that one’s failure isn’t necessarily indicative of the other’s success.

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SOURCE: Disney