Disney and Harvey Weinstein to Bring 'Artemis Fowl' to the Big Screen

An adaptation of Eoin Colfer's bestselling Artemis Fowl series has been in various stages of development Hell for more than a decade. Miramax picked up the rights to the popular children's book franchise back in 2001 before Harvey Weinstein and Disney had their public falling out, but other than Jim Sheridan (In America) showing some mild interest in directing, there's been little movement. But now the film is definitely back on, and all it took was for Disney and Harvey to put all of their past differences aside.

Walt Disney Studios has announced they will be teaming up with Harvey Weinstein to produce Artemis Fowl, which will be based on the first two books in the eight-book series. Often described as "Die Hard with fairies", the story centers on the titular 12-year old who happens to be a millionaire, genius, and criminal mastermind. He bites off more than he can chew when he kidnaps a fairy to use her magic to save his family. Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal are on board to exec-produce, and the script will be adapted by Michael Goldenberg, who knows a thing or two about successful fantasy franchises having written Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

So Harvey and Disney are chums again, at least as far as they can make a few hundred million dollars together. Assuming the right mix of talent is brought together, Artemis Fowl has a pretty good shot at being another Harry Potter-level franchise.