Epic fantasy is the flavor of the month on streaming services right now, and Disney Plus is hoping to cash in on the genre’s popularity with another live-action TV series.
As first reported by Variety (opens in new tab), a new show based on Christopher Paolini’s popular novel series The Inheritance Cycle, is in early development on the streamer. Eragon, which has already been adapted into a 2006 feature film of the same name, is among four books that will serve as the basis for the Disney Plus Production.
The Inheritance Cycle tells the story of a young farmer who, after discovering a mysterious dragon egg, learns to become the legendary Dragon Rider, a mighty warrior destined to save the land of Alagaësia from its evil king.
Eragon, the first novel in Paolini’s series, was published in 2002 and was quickly followed by Eldest in 2005, Brisingr in 2008 and Heritage in 2011. To date, the four books have amassed combined worldwide sales in excess of 40 million copies.
Despite the series’ literary popularity, however, 20th Century Studios’ big-screen adaptation of Eragon was a critical and box office bomb upon release in 2006, earning just $250 million from a reported $100 million budget and boasting a terrible 16% rating from critics. about rotten tomatoes (opens in new tab).
The film had an impressively impressive cast—Jeremy Irons, Rachel Weisz, Robert Carlyle, and John Malkovich were among the names on its pricey call sheet—but audiences and critics were unimpressed with Eragon’s lackluster writing, confusing effects, and generally uninspired vision. another intriguing story.
In 2021, fans of Paolini’s novels voiced their support for a new adaptation of Eragon and its sequels using the hashtag #EragonRemake – and, evidently, Disney has heeded the interest. The author himself recently thanked these activists by citing a tweet from Variety (below) confirming the development of the new series.
Uhhh… 😎 (You guys are the best fans.) https://t.co/V1CLyePzw4July 25, 2022
There’s no word yet on when Disney’s The Inheritance Cycle show will come to Disney Plus, nor any details on its duration or cast. Given that it’s still in the “early development” stage, we probably have a few years to wait until we see Eragon walk back on the big screen.
Is this just fantasy?
Eragon (or The Inheritance Cycle) isn’t the only fantasy novel series that’s getting the adaptation treatment on Disney Plus right now. A serialized version of Rick Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson franchise – which has already formed the basis of two 20th Century Studios films – is also in the works on the fast-growing streaming service.
Nor is Eragon the only dragon-inspired TV show making headlines this month. HBO’s Game of Thrones spin-off, dragon houseis gearing up for its much-anticipated launch on August 21, while Amazon’s super-expensive Prime Video Series, the power ringsstarts airing soon after in September.
As mentioned, Disney’s latest project is certainly not going to fight these upcoming shows for streaming real estate – it’s even possible that both House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power will get second seasons before Eragon arrives – but Disney bosses Plus are clearly buying into the idea that fantastic fiction sells (even if only on TV…).
