“Eragon” is soaring back to screens, with a new live-action series in the works for Disney+ that would recruit author Christopher Paolini as the co-showrunner and co-writer.
After reports of the project first surfaced last week, Disney and Paolini confirmed the news on Thursday via Twitter with a statement to fans.
“This has been a long time coming. I can’t tell you how many conversations, meetings, and messages were needed in order to reach this point. And we’re still just at the beginning! However, none of this would have been possible without everyone who has read the books, supported the tweetstorms, and participated in this fandom over the years. So a huge thank you from me to every Alagaësian out there. You brought the thunder,” Paolini wrote. “Disney will have more to say on this adaptation in the near future, but in the meantime, I wanted to confirm the news and to reassure you that I’m committed to making sure that this version of Eragon’s story lives up to your highest expectations.”
The news of the series comes after Paolini last year called on fans to push Disney for a “proper” adaptation of his books after the 2006 film based on “Eragon” flopped.
The “Eragon” series would focus on the four young adult and fantasy books as part of Paolini’s “The Inheritance Cycle” of novels, with “Eragon,” first published by Knopf in 2003, being the first in that franchise. The series also includes the books “Eldest,” “Brisingr” and “Inheritance.”
Paolini, who has not written for television previously, will be paired with another writer and showrunner, and the search for that individual is underway. Bert Salke will executive produce for his Co-Lab 21 banner.
“Eragon” follows a farm boy named Eragon who discovers a dragon egg and raises it to be his companion, Saphira. Together Eragon learns to become a Dragon Rider, an ancient order of warriors that used to protect the land, all with the goal of defeating an evil king named Galbatorix and freeing the fictional land of Alagaësia from tyranny. Here’s the official logline:
A teenage boy becomes magically joined with a newly-hatched dragon. Together, they must learn what it means to be dragon and Rider as they fight in the resistance against a tyrannical king.
The four books in the series have sold 33.5 million copies worldwide and have developed a fervent fan base. The popularity of the books spawned a movie released by Fox in 2006 and starring Ed Speeling, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Djimon Hounsou, but the movie was panned by critics and audiences alike, and despite grossing $250 million worldwide against a $100 million budget, it never landed a sequel. And last year Paolini jumped on the #EragonRemake bandwagon after fans made the topic trend on Twitter.
Disney+ is also in the works on a series based on the Percy Jackson YA books, which likewise were first adapted into films.
Paolini is represented by WME and Writers House.
Variety first reported the news.