Novel adaptations tend to be a hit or miss kind of deal when it comes to film, but the question is can TV give the flops a second chance? Eragon author Christopher Paolini and his fans say yes it can, with an online campaign to get Disney to remake Paolini’s bestselling dragon novels for the next hit series on Disney Plus.
#EragonRemake was trending worldwide yesterday, with fans of Paolini’s Inheritance series tweeting their demands for another adaptation of the fantasy books. Back in 2006, 20th Century Fox premiered their live-action take on the first book in Paolini’s dragon saga, Eragon. Directed by Stefen Fangmeier, and starring Ed Speleers, the film tells the story of a young farm boy turned dragon rider who must fight against a tyrannical King for the greater good. In theory, it should have been a home run, ranking as a top tier fantasy movie, but unfortunately, here was a case of a film missing the adaptation mark.
Well, it’s 15 years later, Disney has acquired 20th Century Fox, and after its recent success with series like Loki, fans feel like it is time that Eragon gets its redemption.
People deserve more than the disaster of 2006 @Disney
you have the rights, community is begging for something like this and you literally have nothing to lose. #EragonRemake pic.twitter.com/MK7iMqEWWn— Bogomil Valkov (@BogomilValkov) June 20, 2021
50k tweets!!! I’m speechless. #EragonRemake @Disney https://t.co/x482sxvqJ7
— Christopher Paolini (@paolini) June 20, 2021
It may seem outlandish to say that Twitter will sway Disney to invest in a production, but the trending hashtag seems to be part of a strategic plan to do just that. Back in May, Christopher Paolini told the fan podcast Flights Through Alagaësia, “I’m pushing very hard [for a new adaptation], and there are some movements online to do a tweet storm or get a hashtag trending and see if we can get Disney’s attention.”
“And the thing is, that stuff does work. It really does work,” the author went on to say. “It lets the studio know that there’s a fanbase, that they’re active, that they’re engaged, and that they care about the material.” So it seems that all this twitter action isn’t just wishful thinking but may just give fans exactly what they are after. However, with no comment from Disney just yet, it seems that an Eragon remake only exists in our fantasies for now.
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