After ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, Judi Dench could re-team with Kenneth Branagh for ‘Artemis Fowl’ adaptation

Judi Dench. Image: AFP/Tiziana Fabi

Their next collaboration could be another literary adaptation, based on Irish author Eoin Colfer’s “Artemis Fowl” novels. Disney has scheduled the movie for release Aug. 9, 2019.

After bringing Agatha Christie’s famous novel “Murder on the Orient Express” to the big screen, Kenneth Branagh is turning his attention to the “Artemis Fowl” fantasy novels by Eoin Colfer, published between 2001 and 2012. According to Variety, the director is once again keen to work with the Oscar-winning actress Judi Dench.

The hero of eight novels by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old genius. The son of a former crime lord who went missing at sea somewhere off the Russian coast two years earlier, the boy uses his cunning and his intelligence to criminal ends. When he discovers the secret Fairy People, he comes up with a plot to extort their gold.

Kenneth Branagh will direct the movie with a script penned by Irish playwright Conor McPherson, based on the first two books in the series, “Artemis Fowl” and “Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident”. It’s as yet unclear what role Judi Dench could play.

Known for playing M in the recent James Bond movies, the actress currently stars in Stephen Frears’ recently released historical movie “Victoria and Abdul” in which she plays Queen Victoria. She also stars in Kenneth Branagh’s “Murder on the Orient Express” out November 10, alongside Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer and Willem Dafoe. JB

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