As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Disney has made the decision to release its big-budget adaptation of Artemis Fowl straight onto Disney+. The past four months have seen the world change drastically thanks to the international spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Various industries have crumbled under the new and unprecedented level of economic pressure, and the entertainment business is but one of the most notable examples. Hollywood has had to make tough choices at a time of extreme precarity and ambiguity: Nobody knows what’s going on, we have no idea how long we’ll be living under these circumstances, and the chances are that, once it’s all over (whenever that is), nothing will ever be the same again.
In that context, questions over when certain movies will get released cannot help but seem frivolous, but the film industry is still a multi-billion dollar a year system that employs tens of thousands of people on top of helping to keep various other industries afloat. There are dozens of films whose grosses were meant to keep things moving forward for years to come and now that’s no longer an option. Studios, therefore, have had to make compromises. Some films have been moved to later release dates in the hope that the pandemic will be over in time for the fall season (No Time to Die); others have been removed from the schedule altogether (Mulan); many titles either premiered in VOD or had their at-home releases greatly moved forward (Trolls World Tour.) Disney has mostly committed to the first two options for new releases because their mega-budget blockbuster efforts require the worldwide reach of a theatrical release to make their money back. One movie, however, has now become their exception to that rule: Artemis Fowl.
Based on the best-selling series of YA novels by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl is the story of a wealthy Irish teenagee who stumbled into a world of fairies and magic after his father goes missing. Described as a paranormal version of Die Hard, an Artemis Fowl movie has been in pre-production hell for years, with Irish director Jim Sheridan attached for an extended period of limbo. The responsibility eventually fell to Kenneth Branagh, and Artemis Fowl was set for an August 2019 release. The movie's release was moved to May 7, 2020, then May 29, and now it will be released exclusively on Disney+ at an undisclosed date.
Why Artemis Fowl Was Moved to Disney+
The general mood surrounding Artemis Fowl hasn't been especially positive since its release date was moved back nine months by Disney. Such decisions seldom suggest confidence in the product at hand, and it didn't help that most fans of the novels thought the trailers for the movie were mediocre and seemed to stray too far from the source material. Turning the devious genius adolescent Artemis into a more generic wide-eyed child hero did not go down well with those die-hard fans, and the marketing didn't win over many skeptics either. The books are popular, but nowhere near as well-known as, say, Harry Potter.
Disney has had trouble with IPs that aren't its own nostalgic properties or well-established franchises, as evidenced by movies like A Wrinkle in Time, The Lone Ranger, and John Carter. Artemis Fowl was always going to be a risk for Disney because of that, and few had hope in it ever making bank based on that reported $125 million budget. To put it bluntly, this was a movie that was all but ready to be written off as a financial flop by Disney, many months before it was ever meant to see the light of cinemas.
As the 2020 release calendar changes daily, with major releases being pulled and hastily given later dates or none at all, there are very few prime locations left on the 2020 slate and 2021 is filling up fast. Artemis Fowl clearly isn't Disney's priority, not when the studio has to worry about Mulan, Black Widow, and Pixar's Soul. Those are guaranteed money-makers in a way that Artemis Fowl never was. Putting it straight onto Disney+ is a safety net of sorts and guarantees it at least a decent-sized audience, especially if Disney drops it while everyone is still self-isolating at home.
Frozen 2 got an excellent boost after it arrived on Disney+ many months before initially intended. If Disney was ever to “sacrifice” one of their big-budget films to streaming during this fraught time, it was always going to be a title that wasn’t Marvel, Star Wars, or part of the pre-established Disney brand. Unfortunately for Artemis Fowl, the odds were never in its favor, but at least now it stands a chance of being seen by a more generous audience than was initially expected for it.