With "Harry Potter" such a success, studios have been cashing in on the kiddie fantasy realm by trying to adapt other books of the genre into films. Big budget films based on CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and the Lemony Snicket series are on the way very shortly, but now one such potential franchise won't be making the journey.
The Z Review reports that the film version of the "Artemis Fowl" novel series has been postponed. The movie was originally being developed with filming set to begin this Summer in Ireland for Miramax.
So why the cancellation? Very simple - exchange rates. The U.S. Dollar has taken a beating in the past few months against other world currencies, most notably the Euro. As a result the savings of shooting overseas have basically dried up for many Hollywood productions, thus the tightly budgeted Weinstein-owned studio found the budgetary costs too high.
No word yet if Miramax are planning on taking the production to another country, but in any case it serves as a hammer blow to the Irish film community as several other major productions are either contemplating pulling out or have pulled out already from shooting. Contracts signed for 'Artemis' look likely to have already been shredded.
Thanks to 'Gary'
