It’s been almost twenty years since Eragon had a movie adaptation that crashed and burned with both audiences and fans of the best-selling novels. Thankfully, it’ll be getting a second chance courtesy of Disney+, which hopes to soon adapt the dragon-riding fantasy saga by Christopher Paolini.
In a recent X video, Paolini himself offered a new update to fans. He started out by praising the showrunner, Todd Harfin, who has worked on hits like Psych and High Potential alongside Todd Helbing. He also had kind words for writer Carrie Williamson, who penned the upcoming Highlander reboot starring Henry Cavill.
Paolini then discussed just what the current “in development” status of the project is, explaining how it's at the phase right before pre-production.
Now that the @disneyplus #Eragon series is officially in development, many of you have been asking exactly what that means . . . 📣🎥✍️ pic.twitter.com/53awziMewj
— Christopher Paolini (@paolini) March 5, 2026
"Getting to this stage has actually been a big step," he said. "Todd Harfin and I had to come up with a pilot that Disney really liked. We had to digest everything about the material, how to stay true to Eragon and Sephira's story, while also adapting this for visual media. And there's many choices that have to be made along the way. And so far, I've been happy with the choices, so I want you to feel good about that as well. That said, this is a long process, but we are really close to this hopefully going full bore into production.”
Paolini clarified that there’s only so much news he can share as “a lot of decisions are made behind the scenes and it wouldn’t be fair” to be “opening the door on those private conversations.” He does seem excited about the project for good reason. Hopefully it does justice to his work.
Why an Eragon reboot is needed
First published in 2002, Eragon is the first book in The Inheritance Cycle. Written by a then-teenage Paolini, the story focuses on Eragon, a farmboy who discovers a dragon egg that hatches into the dragon Saphira. Eragon soon becomes a Dragon Rider, leading a rebellion against the evil King Galbatorix. The book was a major bestseller that spawned three sequels, Eldest (2005), Brisingr (2008), and Inheritance (2011).
In 2006, a live-action movie was made, but it was not only a box office bomb but was heavily criticized by the book's fans for making far too many alterations from the source material. It sounds like Disney+ will take the same approach as the Percy Jackson books, with each season adapting a novel in the Cycle.
Paolini addressed the movie’s failure and how he hopes to have more creative control in making the series work.
“And I will say it's pretty exciting for me to be in this position after, well, geez, we're in 2026 now, and the Eragon film came out in 2006, near the end of it, but still. So we're now 20 years since the film, and I started working on Eragon back in 1998. So to say this is surreal is an understatement, but it's very welcome, and I'm super happy to be in this position, and I'm only in this position, and the franchise is only in this position because of the support of all of the awesome fandom, and that big push everyone did with the tweet storm and stuff a few years ago really did make the difference with Disney. So from me to you, thank you.”
Paolini is busy not just with the show but also with other works set in the world of Alagaësia. He promises further updates, as fans are eager to see this new take on Eragon take flight in a way that's far more faithful to this epic work!
The Eragon movie is currently streaming on Disney+. The new television series is currently in development. No release date has yet been announced, but we'll be on the lookout for more updates.