The words “better late than never” have, perhaps, never been more apt. Nearly two decades after a film adaptation of Eoin Colfers Artemis Fowl was first announced, it appears fans will finally get the movie theyve been waiting for in 2019. Late Monday night, Disney released a teaser trailer for the Kenneth Branagh-directed adaptation, narrated by Judi Dench and set to Radioheads “Decks Dark.” Given the tortured path this film has trod, the pressure will be on Disney and Branagh to stick the landing.

Contrary to rumors that the film would combine events from the eight-book seriess first and second volumes, Colfer has confirmed that the first novel will be used as the movies sole source material. In that book, Artemis Fowl II—who is not a Harry Potter–esque “Chosen One,” but an antihero and criminal mastermind whom Colfer himself has likened to Michael Corleone—kidnaps a member of the fairy police and holds her for a massive ransom, in the hopes of restoring his familys wealth. As Artemis quickly finds out, though, the fairies are a tougher bunch than he initially assumed.

The film adaptation was first announced in 2001—the same year the first Artemis Fowl novel came out—with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax nabbing the rights to Colfers world. More than a decade later, the film still had not moved past that stage—until 2013, when word broke that Disney, which had by then already sold its stake in Miramax, was developing the film with Weinstein as a producer. Following the allegations of sexual misconduct and rape against Weinstein, Disney removed him from the project. (Weinstein has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.)

Despite the obvious differences between Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter, the two properties will have some shared DNA on screen. Artemis Fowl director Branagh, who is perhaps best known for his Shakespeare adaptations, also appeared in the second Potter film, The Chamber of Secrets, as Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix screenwriter Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay for Artemis as well—though if this trailer is any indication, the newer film will have a chillier tone than the Potter films.

As for the cast: Ferdia Shaw will make his film debut in Artemis Fowl as the title character—big shoes to fill, but it helps that hes pretty much the spitting image of what most fans likely imagined as they read the novels. Judi Dench, who narrates the trailer in a croaky rasp, will play Commander Root, the elven, cigar-smoking leader of a division of the fairy police force. In the books, the character is male, and known to have quite a temper. Josh Gad will play Mulch Diggums, a sticky-fingered dwarf who has spent a long time on the run for his crimes. Nonso Anozie, whom Game of Thrones fans might recognize as Xaro Xhoan Daxos, will play Artemiss bodyguard, Domovoi Butler. And Lara McDonnell, also a young relative newcomer, will play Captain Holly Short, the elf whom Artemis kidnaps and holds for a ransom of one metric ton of gold.

The biggest challenge Artemis Fowl will likely face is its timing. At this point, following a boom in young-adult fiction, stories like Artemis Fowls are not as rare as they once were—and the books original fans, who would have likely been an eager and captive audience in 2001 when the film was first announced, are now old enough to have developed skepticism around such projects, especially as so many properties vie for their nostalgia. Then again, casting Judi Dench is always a good start.

Artemis Fowl will premiere on August 9, 2019.

Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Laura BradleyLaura Bradley is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.

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