As the ramifications of the Coronavirus pandemic continue to rumble on, we now know exactly when Kenneth Branagh’s Artemis Fowl adaptation will be launching on Disney+. The family fantasy saga, which was originally pencilled in for release last summer, before being pushed back to May 2020 amid the Fox deal, was recently announced to be skipping a theatrical release altogether and heading to Disney’s new streaming service instead. Now, it’s officially confirmed to be arriving a little after that planned cinema release date on 12 June – a little under two months away. Here’s a new mini trailer to mark the date announcement.
Branagh’s film stars newcomer Ferdia Shaw as Artemis himself, a pint-sized Irish criminal mastermind who kidnaps fairy Holly Short (Lara McDonnell) to extort her gold – except, she’s actually a tooled-up fairy cop, part of the subterranean LEPrecon squad. Judi Dench stars as LEPrecon leader Commander Root, Colin Farrell plays Artemis’ father, and Josh Gad is mud-munching flatulent dwarf Mulch Diggums.
According to Bob Iger, Artemis Fowl isn’t the only Disney film originally slated for a theatrical release to be moving to Disney+. However, it sounds like major tentpoles like Mulan, Black Widow and the like will still be headed for the big screen once social distancing relaxes and cinemas open again. Stay tuned for more Disney titles heading to Disney+ in future – and catch *Artemis Fowl on there in two months.