Fans of Eoin Colfer’s popular book series “Artemis Fowl” have been waiting a long time for a film adaptation, as Disney first picked up the film rights all the way back in 2013, but halted production during the company’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, ScreenRant reports.
Finally, Walt Disney Studios has dropped their first full trailer for “Artemis Fowl,” less than three months ahead of the film’s May 29 release date.
While the trailer has received some praise from outlets like GameSpot, who called it “a lavish mix of fantasy and sci-fi,” many fans are already upset with Disney for their portrayal of Artemis Fowl II, played by Ferdia Shaw.
The problem, Yahoo! News reports, is that the trailer portrays Fowl as a boy-genius with a traditional heroic arc, but he’s supposed to be an amoral child-villain and criminal mastermind. In the Disney film, it seems, Fowl’s goal is to “save the world,” but in the book series his goal is to increase the family fortune by following in his criminal father’s footsteps.
Additionally, the fairy that Fowl kidnaps in the books, Holly Short, is instead portrayed as his friend, which also constitutes a major change in the film adaptation, CNET reports.
Angry fans are taking to Twitter to call out Disney for “throwing pixie dust” on the series.
But many of these fans may be surprised to know the changes were actually approved by the original series author, Eoin Colfer.
Colfer told Polygon he is “100% behind” many of the changes, including some that aren’t seen in the trailer, like a technology update for the fairies.
CNET reports Colfer has even considered adding some of the film’s plot changes to the book series’ corresponding reissue.