Hailed by many as the next Harry Potter, the Artemis Fowl series, by Irish author Eoin Colfer (who has described the series as "Die Hard with fairies"), has over 21 million copies in print in 44 languages, and now the saga of the titular 12-year old criminal mastermind coming to the big screen, thanks to Walt Disney Studios (this is after a failed attempt in 2008, with Jim Sheridan attached to direct). Based on the first two books in the series, Harvey Wienstein is teaming up with Disney to produce the film, written by Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix). Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal are on board as executive producers.
The books, which follow Artemis's dealings with the LEPrecon unit, a police force made up of magical creatures, are an absolutely fantastic and fun read, and I can't wait to see them on the big screen. The people behind the movie are just as excited, with Harvey Wienstein going on at length about the project:
The books, which follow Artemis's dealings with the LEPrecon unit, a police force made up of magical creatures, are an absolutely fantastic and fun read, and I can't wait to see them on the big screen. The people behind the movie are just as excited, with Harvey Wienstein going on at length about the project:
"If you would have told me five years ago I would be producing a project with Disney I would have thought you were crazy. I feel as though everything is coming full circle considering Bob De Niro 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."
