When “Eragon” was first released by 20th Century Fox in 2006, it was met with a, well, less than warm welcome. So Christopher Paolini, author of the best-selling trilogy, is hoping to see his work get another shot on screen with modern technologies, and he’s getting fans involved to make it happen.
Today, that 15-year-old film has a score of just 16% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and notched a 46% fresh rating from audiences. On the whole? Decidedly rotten. Of course, for most fans, that’s because the film adaptation strayed just a bit too far from the story told in the books.
Now, Paolini wants his series to get another shot with Disney. Taking to Twitter on Sunday, the author joined in on a fan-created campaign to push for a remake. Paolini encouraged his fanbase in their use of the hashtag #EragonRemake and noted that they should tag Disney to get their attention.
“Bring the thunder Alagaësians! Let Disney hear you roar! Use the hashtag #EragonRemake, mention Disney in the body of the tweet, and let them know we want to see a proper Eragon adaptation!” Paolini wrote.
Within hours, the hashtag was indeed trending, with many disappointed fans getting extra excited at the possibility of seeing the series done right, whether it be in TV or movie form. One fan even went so far as to create a mock-up of what “Eragon” could look like as one of the featured projects on Disney+.
“PICTURE THIS: It’s 2023, a cold winters night, and you’re about to watch the best show you’ve ever seen because Disney decided to do the #EragonRemake” David Ballin wrote.
Should he succeed, Paolini won’t be the first author with a popular YA series getting a second chance at adaptation with Disney.
A new Disney+ series adapting the work of Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” books is currently in the works. Like “Eragon,” both “Percy Jackson” films — distributed at the time by 20th Century Fox — were widely criticized for making major changes to the characters and plotlines from the books.
As of this writing, the #EragonRemake hashtag had amassed more than 30 thousand tweets, and it was still climbing.