Production has begun on Artemis Fowl, the big screen adaptation of Eoin Colfer's best-selling fantasy adventure of the same name.
With Kenneth Branagh behind the lens and Kilkenny newcomer Ferdia Shaw in the lead role of the young criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl's locations include Northern Ireland, England and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.
The film pits Artemis "in a battle of strength and cunning against a powerful, hidden race of fairies who may be behind his father's disappearance". The screenplay has been written by playwright Conor McPherson.
Joining Shaw onscreen are Judi Dench as fairy police force chief Commander Root; Josh Gad as kleptomaniacal dwarf Mulch Diggum; Game of Thrones' Nonso Anozie as Artemis' bodyguard, Butler; and another young Irish star, Lara McDonnell, as elf hero Captain Holly Short.
Branagh, Dench and Gad recently worked together on Murder on the Orient Express.
Artemis Fowl is due in cinemas in August 2019.
