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antishurtugal_reborn2025-06-24 07:17 pm
Live Action Remake Means We Should Get Eragon! article spork
Disney Must Prioritize Its Forgotten Fantasy Adaptation After How To Train Your Dragon's Live-Action Success
Right away it just slays me that Paolini thought it was a good idea to share this, with his only comment being his tiresomely predictable “heh”. Was that a knowing “heh” or a mocking one? Who knows!
✨Generate a summary of this story
Translation: “We’re continuing our attempts at infantilising you and destroying your attention span with our latest weapon: AI!”
Drop dead.
Disney's dragon-centric Eragon adaptation has been in limbo for years now, but perhaps the success of another dragon rider property will motivate producers to start pushing forward development again. The highly anticipated How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake arrived in movie theaters in early June 2025, delivering new versions of iconic, thrilling dragon-flight sequences. How to Train Your Dragon's reviews say that it is a great first remake for DreamWorks, and does justice to the powerful bond between Viking Hiccup (Mason Thames) and the Night Fury Dragon Toothless.
I wouldn’t know as I refuse to watch any live-action remake regardless of whether it’s getting good reviews.
The remake's success has resulted in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2 entering development, which will continue to show the adventures of Berk's riders and their dragon companions in a new medium.
It’s made the jump from film… to film!
There is also much speculation surrounding whether Cate Blanchett will return to play Hiccup's mother Valka (whom she voices in the animated movies), as Gerard Butler did as his father Stoick. It is easy to see how DreamWorks took a page out of Disney's book regarding remakes — and now, Disney may be inspired by DreamWorks to kick-start their own dragon property.
Not when there’s more beloved classics to pointlessly remake.
Disney Should Prioritize Its Eragon Adaptation After How To Train Your Dragon's Success
Disney Can Capitalize On The Popularity Of Dragon-Riding Adventures
What are the other properties in question? Probably not Fourth Wing; that crap isn’t an adventure, it’s idiotic – ugh – romantasy with very little action in it.
Disney acquired the rights to Christopher Paolini's book series The Inheritance Cycle, often known by the title of its first installment Eragon, and announced a TV show adaptation was in development in 2022.
A quick visual summary of subsequent events: 🦗🦗🦗
Many fantasy book series that had previously seen failed movie adaptations were being picked up by streamers for a second chance around this time — we have seen the results of this with Disney+'s success with Percy Jackson and the Olympians and HBO with His Dark Materials.
The His Dark Materials series was good. But of course, it was also based on good source material. Not going to commit on Percy Jackson; I only read the first book and was unimpressed, so I didn’t bother to check out the TV series.
2006's Eragon movie is notorious in fan circles for its poor quality and disregard for the source material.
Ah yes, “the movie that didn’t happen”.
However, we have heard virtually no updates from Disney since other than Paolini assuring fans that Eragon's TV show is still happening last year.
You know, the guy who’s notorious for making promises he doesn’t keep. That guy.
While hammering out the paperwork may be complicated, it is clear that Disney would prioritize other projects. However, How to Train Your Dragon may prompt producers to redirect their efforts, as it demonstrates the enduring passion for this particular take on dragons, as well as how good it can look in live action. Especially as Percy Jackson settles into a routine of producing new seasons, they may be able to get Eragon started.
If only I had a dollar for every time I’ve said this… Eragon is not a dragon-centric story. Nor is Percy Jackson, come to that, so I don’t know why they keep mentioning it.
Eragon's portrayal of dragons is similar to How to Train Your Dragon, emphasizing the partnership between a dragon and a rider.
...no it isn’t. Hiccup had to earn Toothless’ trust and then friendship, and he also treated him well. Eragon just gets Saphira’s (extremely creepy) undying love because of magic bullshit and he treats her like garbage.
Eragon and his dragon Saphira are at the center of the story; Saphira can also communicate with Eragon telepathically.
No, Eragon is at the centre of the story. Saphira barely even qualifies as a supporting character. And what does the second part of that sentence have to do with the first? I’m beginning to suspect this article was AI generated, which would be just shocking given Screen Rant’s well known high journalistic standards. Right?
There are similar themes of dragons needing to be safeguarded as their numbers have dwindled,
WTF are you talking about? Dragons aren’t rare in the HTTYD universe – there are thousands of the suckers flying around! Nor does Inheritance have a “must protect the dragons” theme.
against the backdrop of the main characters fighting for their kingdom's future,
Neither story is even set in a kingdom.
with many compelling supporting characters.
Just keep telling yourself that.
Those searching for a more mature take on How to Train Your Dragon may find themselves converted into Eragon fans.
This is the funniest part so far. Only one franchise has deep themes and protagonists who mature, and it’s not the one where the dragons sparkle.
Furthermore, the live-action How to Train Your Dragon illustrates that special effects are at a point now where they can give the visuals of Eragon and Saphira's world their due. Special effects in the early 2000s weren't bad, per se, but it is clear that the same level of diligence that went into Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy was not given to Eragon.
That would be because most of the people working on it clearly knew damn well it didn’t deserve it. There was no love put into that movie, and it’s for a reason.
This was especially damning when Eragon has Saphira, a character who is a massive feat of CGI and needs to be convincingly life-like for an emotional pillar of the story to land.
Emotional pillar. Right.
While Toothless looks essentially the same as he does in the animated version, his textures and movements are detailed and realistic, and the rest of the dragons that surround Berk are expertly rendered. The work done on Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon is also an indicator that VFX specialists have a blueprint on how to tackle Saphira now.
Movie Saphira didn’t even look all that bad. They’re focusing on entirely the wrong thing anyway; good visuals cannot save crap source material.
Eragon is a complex series to adapt, not just for visual reasons, and with more guidelines for how to handle that part, Disney can dedicate itself to the story, spurred on by the dragon rider subgenre's popularity.
Is it THAT popular, though? Really? Either way we all know they can’t shoot a damn thing until they have a finalised script, and guess who’s responsible for that? The guy who’s notoriously impossible to work with and wants everything his own way? The guy who’s made it pretty obvious he’s been fighting with whoever’s been stuck working with him? You know, that guy?
Let’s be real here; there is little to no resemblance between these two franchises. Take away “it has dragons and the hero rides a dragon” and what’s left? How to Train Your Dragon is a heartfelt story about an outcast who finds friendship and a place in the world, and who with his friend ends a pointless conflict and ushers in a new era of peace and co-operation. He’s flawed, he’s brave, he’s smart, he’s resourceful.
Eragon is a hollow, pointless account of a nasty little spoilt brat who treats his dragon friend (and indeed everyone else) like shit and who ultimately makes everything worse.
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For anyone who wants some analysis of Pern or the Belgariad, you can follow the links! If you want to have an overview, this post should help.
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And you'll have a lot of it, too! (This was partly meant as a general plug of that website, I have to say, but I think it's a well-deserved one.)
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Well, I had linked to it here, but it was only as support for my point, so it was easy to miss. And yeah, I've only really found it at the beginning of this year; I get the impression that the people there jumped ship and then somewhat fell into obscurity?
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You mean Slacktivist?
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Indeed, though I really don't know enough to say for sure.
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