Fowl Deeds

Sir Kenneth Branagh masterminds the transition of Artemis Fowl from page to screen

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“WHEN YOU CAN WALK PAST A SET AND there’s a big troll catapult outside the front door,” grins Sir Kenneth Branagh, “that never gets old.”

This unique sense of job satisfaction is provided by the stage-and-screen knight’s latest directing gig. Based on the 2001 YA novel by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl introduces the titular boy genius: a 12-year-old criminal mastermind looking to restore his nefarious family’s fortunes by kidnapping a fairy and demanding a ransom in fabled gold.

As Branagh tells Red Alert, he was lured by Colfer’s worldbuilding, in particular the appeal of a reality where elves, goblins, and pixies co-exist with high technology and the underworld of crime. Colfer himself has called the original novel “Die Hard with fairies” and while there’s a distinct lack of grimy-vested yippee-ki-yay, there’s an abundance of something else.

“The imagination,” Branagh says. “It felt very original. I loved its Irishness, coming from the north part of that country, and the sort of collision – the proximity of worlds, very different worlds. I liked that creatively. It always feels like it’s a good, risky place to be. I had some experience with it making