“Artemis Fowl”, a series of children’s books described by the author as “Die Hard” with fairies”, is set to make a move to the big screen soon with Robert De Niro as an executive producer.

The books, penned by Eon Coilfer, tell the story of a 12-year old boy who sets out to find his kidnapped father in a magical world and ends up making friends and enemies along the way, developing his own strong moral compass. The film is courtesy of Harvey Weinstein and Disney, which may surprise those who follow the movie biz; the Weinsteins had a famous tiff with Disney in 2005.

“If you would have told me five years ago I would be producing a project with Disney I would have thought you were crazy,” Weinstein said. “I feel as though everything is coming full circle considering Bob DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal brought me this book while I was still at Miramax and within hours I told them I wanted the rights to the film. This is a special project for me because my children absolutely love this book. This story is for everyone and there is no one better than Disney to make a film that will excite people young and old.”

The film will encompass the first two books in the series and will be written by Michael Goldenberg, who wrote “Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix”, but it’s unclear at this early date whether there are plans for the entire series to be adapted. There are eight books altogether.