11Variety reveals that a live-action Eragon TV series is currently in early development at Disney+. Based on Christopher Paolini's young adult novel series The Inheritance Cycle, Eragon is the first of those, but what the property is typically referred to by fans.
While the trade initially reported that Paolini would serve as co-showrunner on the series, they've since updated their report to explain that "the project is in such early stages that no such decision has been made officially." He will, however, be a co-writer on this adaptation, with Bert Salke set to serve as executive producer.
Eragon was self-published in 2002 before being picked up by Knopf in 2003. Eldest would follow in 2005 before Brisingr dropped in 2008 and we later saw the story conclude with Inheritance in 2011. Over 41 million copies have been sold, so you can see why Disney views this as a property with potential.
The Inheritance Cycle tells the story of a farmboy named Eragon who discovers an egg that hatches into a dragon he names Saphira. Through their bond and the help of his mentor Brom, Eragon learns to be a Dragon Rider, an ancient order that had long been thought to be wiped out by the evil king Galbatorix.
Eragon and Saphira set out to defeat Galbatorix and free the land of Alagaësia from his tyranny.
Of course, this isn't the first adaptation as a movie was released in 2006 starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, and Rachel Weisz as the voice of Saphira. It received negative reviews, but grossed a decent $250 million on a $100 million budget. Between this and the upcoming Peter Jackson series, Disney+ appears to be making YA adaptations a priority.
Needless to say, we're sure book fans who started campaigning for this last year with #EragonRemake will be very happy indeed!
Stay tuned for updates on this Eragon remake as we have them.