Artemis Fowl (film)

Miramax Films (owned by The Walt Disney Company at the time) purchased the film rights in conjunction with Tribeca Productions in 2000, before the novel was published.[4][5] Plans for a film adaptation of the series were first announced in 2001, with Lawrence Guterman signed to direct, Jeff Stockwell to write, and Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal as producers.[5][6][7][8] In 2003, Eoin Colfer stated that a screenplay had been finalized and that casting was due to start the same year but expressed skepticism over whether or not this would come to pass.[9] The film remained in development hell,[5] in part because of disputes over the rights between The Walt Disney Company and Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who were leaving Miramax.[10] During this time, Jim Sheridan, his daughter Naomi Sheridan, and Colfer co-wrote a non-commissioned screenplay,[4] and it was reported in 2011 that Jim Sheridan was negotiating to direct and had met with Saoirse Ronan to possibly star in the film.[11][12]

In July 2013, Walt Disney Pictures announced that they would produce an Artemis Fowl film with The Weinstein Company, covering the events of the first and second novels of the series, with the screenplay written by Michael Goldenberg.[13]

On September 1, 2015, Variety reported that Kenneth Branagh had been hired to direct the film for Disney, with Irish playwright Conor McPherson as screenwriter and Harvey Weinstein, Judy Hofflund, and Branagh as producers.[14] On September 12, 2017, Disney announced that the film adaptation would be released on August 9, 2019.[15] The following month, Disney removed Weinstein as producer of the film and terminated its production partnership with The Weinstein Company following the exposure of Weinstein's criminal sexual misconduct.[16]

On September 18, 2017, it was reported that Judi Dench was in talks for an undisclosed role.[17] On December 20, 2017, it was announced that Irish newcomer and grandson of Robert Shaw, Ferdia Shaw, had been cast as Artemis Fowl II, alongside Dench as Commander Root, Josh Gad as Mulch Diggums, Lara McDonnell as Captain Holly Short, and Nonso Anozie as Butler.[18][19] Colin Farrell was added to the cast as Artemis Fowl I during reshoots, and his involvement was revealed through the second trailer in March 2020.[20]

McDonnell's casting as Short brought accusations of whitewashing, given the character in the book series is described as having dark nut-brown skin of a coffee complexion.[21][22] Similarly, Anozie's casting as Butler was criticized, as the books describe him as a Eurasian who can pass as Japanese and Russian; and because the character's physical description of terrifying anyone in his presence, combined with his backstory of his family having served the Fowl family for centuries, was seen with Anozie's casting as embodying several stereotypes of African Americans and Africans, in particular the "scary black man" and "black servant" tropes.[23][24]

Author Eoin Colfer filmed a cameo appearance as an extra. Describing his one scene, filmed in Northern Ireland, Colfer said, "I walked across a field with a lot of other people. It wasn't too taxing – although I did manage to get it wrong a few times. The only direction they gave was: 'Walk across the field and don't look at the camera.' I must have looked at the camera about 20 times. I have a new respect for actors."[25]

Principal photography commenced on March 12, 2018. The film was shot in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Italy, and Vietnam.[26] Fowl Manor was built at Longcross Studios in Surrey and was designed to last for the production of sequels, but had been torn down by May 2020.[27] Many changes were made from the source material, which Colfer has stated that he supports.[28]

According to ScreenEngine/ASI, Artemis Fowl was the 18th-most-watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020, as of November 2020.[31][33]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 8% based on 172 reviews, and an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A would-be franchise-starter that will anger fans of the source material and leave newcomers befuddled, Artemis Fowl is frustratingly flightless."[34] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[35]

Comic Book Resources summarized that critics were generally "blasting the film for not being entertaining enough and [for] poor execution."[36] Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a "D+" and noted that it "lacks an effective star, good effects, general coherency, and any sense of actual magic."[37] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "becomes a wearying slog, with too little reason to invest in the bland characters amid all the chaos."[38] Peter Debruge of Variety called the film "tortuously long at just 93 minutes" and "downright awful."[39] Scott Mendelssohn of Forbes wrote that the film "fails on a fundamental level of 'Is this movie fun?' and 'Do I want to spend any more time with these characters?'" and described it as "one of the worst YA fantasy movies ever."[40] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Lots of things happen but nothing unfolds. It's like watching a feature-length trailer for a film that doesn't exist."[41] Barry Hertz of The Globe and Mail gave the film 1.5/4 stars, saying that it was "a confusing, muddled, sloppy mess of bad intentions and worse execution."[42] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Images and characters bounce around like shapes on a screensaver and only McDonnell and Gad's performances have any fizz. This is a YA-franchise by numbers."[43]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave a positive review of 3 out of 4 stars, writing that the film "does a marvelous job of capturing the decidedly Irish tone of the adventure" and features a "wonderful and diverse collection of characters."[44] Mark Kermode said that it was: "A fun, fleeting, rather flimsy romp... it doesn't have classic qualities, but it works if you take it for what it is: a 95-minute supernatural fantasy".[45] Brian Lowry of CNN wrote: "Artemis Fowl isn't an unqualified good egg, but it's perfectly adequate... Adapted from popular books, this busy, hectic film races to build an ornate world, and winds up feeling like it's jumping to "franchise" status before getting on its cinematic feet."[46]

Steve Rose of The Guardian criticized the film's "color-blind" casting. He said that the casting of Butler, who was Eurasian in the books, was "not a great look casting the guy whose family has served the white Fowl dynasty for generations as a black man", and also criticized Holly Short being played by a white actress in the film despite being described as "nut brown" in the books.[47]

Ferdia Shaw received a nomination for Best Performance in a Streaming Film - Teen Actor at the 2021 Young Artist Awards.[48] Collider included Artemis Fowl in their "Best Original Movies on Disney Plus" list.[49]