Dragon Riders take flight! It’s been more than a decade since The Inheritance Cycle books by Christopher Paolini took the young adult fantasy market by storm, but it may be time for us all to get reacquainted with the fantasy world of Alagaesia. According to a new report by Variety, a television adaptation of the series is in early development at Disney+.
Beginning with Eragon, The Inheritance Cycle tells the story of a young farm boy named Eragon who discovers a dragon egg which hatches into a draconic companion he comes to know as Saphira. Together Eragon and Saphira reclaim the ancient title of Dragon Rider and go on a world-spanning quest to stop the evil king Galbatorix. The series consists of four books: Eragon (2002), Eldest (2005), Brisingr (2008) and Inheritance (2011).
This isn’t Eragon’s first time being adapted for the screen. In 2006 a movie was released that covered the events of the first book. It failed to capture the magic of the novels and was pretty universally panned by critics and audiences alike, despite having a pretty stacked cast that included Ed Speelers as Eragon, Rachel Weisz as the voice of Saphira, Jeremy Irons as Eragon’s mentor Brom, John Malkovich as Galbatorix, and Sienna Guillory as the elf Arya.
Eragon and the Percy Jackson TV series are both on Disney+
Despite the movie’s failure, many fans have held out hope that one day they’d get to see a more faithful adaptation of The Inheritance Cycle. It was those hopes that led to an #EragonRemake fan campaign online, which aimed to get the attention of Disney. Apparently, someone was listening.
Hopefully this new Disney+ series has better luck than the film. According to Variety’s sources, Paolini is attached to co-write the series, with Bert Salke of Co-Lab Studios serving as executive producer and 20th Television producing.
This marks the latest in Disney+’s attempts to bring more YA fantasy stories to the small screen. The studio is currently producing a series based on Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. Who knows what fantastical adventures are next?
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