Christopher Paolini’s cult YA series The Inheritance Cycle is getting a live-action do-over, with Disney+ developing a brand new adaptation of Eragon. Last adapted in 2006, with a movie that was fine though widely panned by critics and fandom alike, this time around Eragon is getting the series treatment. Hopefully this will allow for more detail, as well as more time spent on various aspects of the plot than what could be crammed into an hour-and-43-minute-long movie, and ultimately producing a better, more faithful adaptation. Here’s everything we’ve learned so far.
When is the Eragon series coming out?
The Eragon series is early enough in development that there’s no official release date yet, however it seems likely that it’s going to hit our screens either towards the end of 2024 or some time in 2025.
What is the Eragon series about?
Eragon is the first book in Paolini’s The Inheritance Cycle series. A classic “farm boy called to adventure” story, the eponymous Eragon finds a strange stone on a mountain that turns out to be a dragon egg. The egg hatches into the dragon Saphira, and the two of them form an immediate psychic bond. However, the tyrant king Galbatorix has a vendetta against dragons and dragon riders, wiping out all but his own dragon Shruikan years before. When agents of the king arrive in Eragon’s village of Carvahall, disaster unfolds, setting Eragon and Saphira off on a quest for survival, justice, and vengeance. While nothing specific has been said about the plot of the TV series yet, it’s presumably going to follow the book at least fairly closely—especially given Paolini’s involvement!
How is Christopher Paolini involved?
Unlike last time, Christopher Paolini is actually co-writing the script for the Eragon series—and is one of its executive producers—so fans can look forward to a fairly authentic The Inheritance Cycle experience, even if it does end up deviating from the original book.
Who else is on the writing and production team?
We don’t know any of the other writers who’ll be working on the series yet, and the search is currently on to find and secure a showrunner. However, Bert Salke of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV show is confirmed as the other executive producer, as part of his Co-Lab 21 deal with Disney+. The series will be produced by 20th Television, which is owned by Disney+.
Has anyone been cast yet?
It’s still too early in the process for anyone to have been cast yet, but apparently some fans are petitioning for Jeremy Irons to reprise his role as Brom, so there’s that. Other probably wishful fan thinking includes Kit Harington as Murtagh and Tom Holland as Eragon (I mean, I wouldn’t hate it).
(featured image: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)
