Advertisement

Judi Dench could be joining the Artemis Fowl film

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Digital Spy

Even Artemis Fowl himself couldn't have foreseen this.

A film adaptation of Eoin Colfer's beloved book series has been in the works for some time (years and years and years), and we may finally have some word on who is going to star in the much-anticipated project. And it seems like it was definitely worth the wait.

According to reports in Variety, ACTUAL Dame Judi Dench is in talks to join Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptation of the book series about a 12-year-old criminal mastermind and the society of magical people he tries to ransom a whole heap of gold from by kidnapping one of their own.

Irish playwright Conor McPherson is also signed up to pen the script, while Disney has recently announced that the film will be released on August 9, 2019.

There is no word yet on which character Dame Judi is playing, but that doesn't mean that the rumours and guesswork haven't already started.

Here are some of the forerunners:

Commander Julius Root – Tough-talking, straight-faced LEPrecon commander Julius Root is a key character in the book series, acting as a mentor/father-figure to one of the series' main characters, Holly Short. Yes, he's a 'he', but what's a little gender-swap between fairies? Plus, Judi did play M in James Bond, another gender-swapped leadership role and that turned out pretty damn brilliantly.

Angeline Fowl – Artemis's mother, who is in a pretty bad state in the first book, suffering from apparent schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and experiencing hallucinations after her husband's disappearance a few years earlier. Only problem with this? It's an age issue. Artemis is only 12, Judi Dench is 82. It might be a bit of a stretch for audiences to believe that she is his mother.

Foaly – Yes, we could get Judi Dench playing a paranoid centaur. Often a source of humour in the book series, the genius centaur is in charge of the technological department of the LEP and he assists in trying to take down fellow brainiac Artemis in the first book. This would obviously be another gender-swapped role and one we'd love to see, just because Judi Dench playing a horse would never get old.

The Fairy Healer – A drunken sprite who appears in the first book, living in Ho Chi Minh City. Artemis tracks her down to get information about magic and tricks her into helping him. She returns a few books later. This is very possible, but if YOU had Dame Judi Dench available for your film, wouldn't you give her a bigger role than a drunken sprite?

Artemis Fowl – Kidding.

So there are a fair few options to choose from.

And then, of course, there is always the chance that Dame Judi is playing an entirely new character created for the film, or even a character that doesn't turn up until much later in the book series.

One thing's for sure, with the film set to be released in 2019, we could be in for a long wait until we find out who the lucky character is.


Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.

You Might Also Like