Eragon, the 2006 film based on Christopher Paolini's novel of the same name, was a complete disaster for a multitude of reasons. Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, of which Eragon is the first book, has been extremely successful worldwide, despite the failure of the movie. Luckily for fans of the Inheritance Cycle, the series is being adapted once again, this time as a television series on Disney+. If Disney's Eragon TV show is going to redeem the movie, it will be essential to understand what went wrong the first time.
Audiences and critics were united in their disappointment when Eragon came out in 2006, but identifying the sources of their disappointment may not be as easy as Disney thinks. Eragon performed remarkably badly, and there were few positives to take away from the film. As such, Disney may have to rely on the books to find the right formula for its Eragon adaptation. Luckily, Christopher Paolini is expected to be heavily involved in the writing and production of the Eragon series, which should make it easier for the show to avoid the critical mistakes from the Eragon movie.
9 Eragon Drastically Changed The Book Ending
One huge issue with Eragon (2006) was that it drastically changed the book's ending. In the film, Eragon (Ed Speleers) and his dragon, Saphira (Rachel Weisz), have a final duel with the shade Durza (Robert Carlyle) where they manage to kill the villain despite serious injury to Saphira. In the book, however, Eragon is tricked by Durza, who comes to the brink of victory before Saphira and Arya come to Eragon's rescue. This ending is not only a better spectacle but also serves to set up the sequel with Eragon's vision about Ellesméra. The film's deviations hurt the plot severely and disappointed eager book fans.
8 Arya's Characterization Was All Wrong
Another issue with the Eragon movie was that it failed utterly in its characterization of Arya (Sienna Guillory). Arya is one of the most important characters in the series, which makes Eragon's misrepresentation of her a huge mistake. Arya's character in the books is much richer and more complex than the movie's version of her. In Eragon, Arya comes off as boring and somewhat one-dimensional. Misinterpreting a character as important as Arya is a critical mistake because it's characters like Arya that make the Inheritance Cycle so entertaining.
7 Eragon's Acting & Casting Was Largely Poor
Another issue with the 2006 film Eragon was that its casting and acting were largely poor. The acting in Eragon was a common point of criticism from audiences and critics alike. Many of the sequences came off as generic or corny, and the actors simply did not seem invested in the story. Some critics have even ventured so far as to claim the cast did not take the movie seriously or perhaps saw it as a joke. That might be overly harsh, but the acting was generally poor. Eragon also made some critical casting mistakes with characters like Galbatorix and Angela the Herbalist that exacerbated its acting problems.
6 The Eragon-Saphira Connection Didn't Translate Well
Another issue with Eragon was that the mental connection between Eragon and Saphira did not translate well. Eragon and Saphira communicate telepathically, which was always going to be hard to translate into film. However, Eragon's approach to this issue was somewhat lackluster. The movie fails to convey the depth of their connection, and because of that, fails to fully integrate Saphira's personality. Despite being a dragon who can't physically speak, Saphira is vivid and layered in the books, something the film completely failed to capture.
5 Eragon's Lack Of Loyalty To Its Source Material Alienated Readers
Eragon's overall lack of loyalty to the source material was another huge issue for the movie because it alienated book readers who could have become the film's core fan base. The movie stays loyal for the first handful of scenes, including Eragon finding Saphira's egg, but it digresses further and further from the plot as it goes on. By the end, the Eragon movie is almost unrecognizable from the books, which obviously upset devotees of the original source material. This makes Paolini's involvement one of the most exciting things about the Eragon TV show because it will presumably help the show avoid this mistake.
4 Eragon's Budget Was Too Low To Do The Fictional World Justice
Eragon's budget was another reason for the film's poor performance. It had a seemingly healthy-sized budget of $100 million, but with such a grand fictional world to adapt, Eragon's budget still fell well short of what it needed to be. The budget was likely the reason for a lot of the book cuts and changes, especially Eragon's duel with Durza, which would have been extremely expensive to do properly. Luckily for the Eragon TV show, CGI has come a long way since 2006, and Disney should be able to provide it with the necessary budget to do Paolini's world justice.
3 Fox Was Trying To Jump On The 2000s Fantasy Movie Bandwagon
Eragon was a victim of Fox's attempts to jump on the 2000s fantasy bandwagon. The genre was doing extremely well at the time, and Fox seemingly expected to throw a little bit of money at a fantasy series and make a quick bucket of cash without properly thinking the story through. Unfortunately, Fox spent too little money and chose the wrong creative minds to produce Eragon. The movie came off as rushed and poorly planned as a consequence of Fox's impatience to get into the fantasy market, and killed the franchise before it truly began.
2 Eragon's Poor Script Made Story Changes Even Worse
Whenever a book is adapted for movies or television, there are always going to be some necessary changes to the source material. However, Eragon's changes look even worse than they might have because of how poor the script is. For the most part, audiences are ok with changes to the source material if they are well-written. However, when an adaptation makes wholesale changes that significantly lower the quality of the narrative, it's bound to fail. Eragon's script not only changes events from the novel, it's also full of generic, uninspired dialogue. The result is a movie so terrible it makes people angry.
1 Why Eragon's TV Show Can Do Better Than The Movie
Eragon's TV show on Disney+ can outperform the movie for several reasons, but chief among them is the involvement of Christopher Paolini. Paolini is expected to be a co-writer for the series and to have a significant hand in production. His involvement can ensure that the TV show makes an adaptation much closer to the original novels and that any changes made stay true to the spirit of his work. The Eragon TV show also has the advantage of having more time to tell the story, and it should receive an adequate budget this time, which can help substantially.
