Colin Farrell joins 'Artemis Fowl' as Fowl Sr as new trailer and poster launched

Disney’s Artemis Fowl seems to have been given a drastic overhaul for its new trailer, adding Colin Farrell to the cast as the lead character’s father – also called Artemis Fowl.

The adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s hit YA novel filmed in 2018, was due for release in 2019, but was delayed to May this year, and it seems like Farrell has been added during reshoots.

The Irish actor’s name was not attached to early press releases for the Kenneth Branagh-directed film, and when Yahoo visited Longcross Studios to see the film being made, Fowl’s father had not officially been cast.

Yahoo has contacted Disney for comment.

Fowl Jr (newcomer Ferdia Shaw) comes from a long line of criminal masterminds, including his father Artemis Fowl I. In the first book, published in 2001, Fowl’s father is absent, and doesn’t really come into play until the second book Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, published in 2002.

Read more: Branagh on gender-flipping key Artemis Fowl character

Disney seems to be pushing things forward by casting a star like Farrell in the role and adding the details of his disappearance to the first film. The new trailer reveals that Fowl Sr is being held hostage, setting off a chain of events that leads to the siege of Fowl Manor by the hidden realm of fairies that makes up the bulk of the first book’s narrative.

Farrell has become a Disney stalwart of late, appearing in 2013’s Saving Mr. Banks and 2019’s Dumbo.

Along with featuring in the film’s new trailer, Farrell has also been added to the new poster for the film (below), also released today.

Synopsis: Disney’s Artemis Fowl, based on the beloved book by Eoin Colfer, is a fantastical, spellbinding adventure that follows the journey of 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl, a descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, as he seeks to find his father who has mysteriously disappeared.

With the help of his loyal protector Butler, Artemis sets out to find him, and in doing so uncovers an ancient, underground civilisation—the amazingly advanced world of fairies. Deducing that his father’s disappearance is somehow connected to the secretive, reclusive fairy world, cunning Artemis concocts a dangerous plan— so dangerous that he ultimately finds himself in a perilous war of wits with the all-powerful fairies.

A previous synopsis kept Fowl Sr. as a more peripheral figure: Descended from a long line of criminal masterminds, 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl finds himself in a battle of strength and cunning against a powerful, hidden race of fairies who may be behind his father’s disappearance. Newcomer Ferdia Shaw plays the title character, with Lara McDonnell (Love, Rosie) playing Captain Holly Short, a feisty, spirited elf, who is kidnapped by Artemis for a ransom of fairy gold.

In the underground fairy world of Haven City, Academy Award®-winner Dame Judi Dench (Skyfall) plays Commander Root, the leader of the reconnaissance division of the LEPrecon, the fairy police force, and Josh Gad (Beauty and the Beast) plays Mulch Diggums, a kleptomaniac dwarf, who attempts to help rescue Holly. Above ground, Nonso Anozie (Cinderella) plays the Fowl family bodyguard, named Butler, and Tamara Smart (The Worst Witch) plays Butler’s niece Juliet. Miranda Raison (Murder on the Orient Express) plays Artemis’ mother Angeline.

Artemis Fowl is in UK cinemas 29 May.