Published in 2002 when the author was still a teenager, “Eragon” follows a farm boy who discovers a dragon egg, which hatches into his adventuring companion, Saphira. Across several hefty books, Eragon and Saphira explore a “Lord of the Rings”-like world, learning the lost arts of the Dragon Riders and discovering their own world-saving purpose in the process. With four books published and nearly 3000 pages between them, “The Inheritance Cycle” is the type of high fantasy epic that could easily fuel a multi-season hit series. Note: in my experience, they are also good books to read in order to rack up Accelerated Reader points and win your class a pizza party. Just saying.
The adaptation deal marks an intriguing new trend for Disney+ original content, as the streamer, best known for its Marvel and “Star Wars” series, seems to be hungry to adapt epic young adult books with fervent audiences. Earlier this year, filming began on an adaptation of “Percy Jackson & The Olympians,” another beloved series with a huge teen readership that, despite its popularity in the 2000s, spawned a less-than-satisfying movie adaptation. Like Paolini, “Percy Jackson” author Rick Riordan is directly involved in the making of the second adaptation of his series, giving fans hope that things will stick with the source material a bit better this time around.
Disney+ is by no means an underdog, but both of these acquisitions could make the once kid-centric platform even more appealing to young adults who have aged into a key streaming demographic, much as Netflix’s erstwhile reputation for “saving” canceled linear shows endeared it to audiences years ago.
The “Eragon” series does not yet have a release date.
