In 2020 we saw the #DisneyAdaptPercyJackson social media campaign spearheaded by the author and creator of “Percy Jackson”, Rick Riordan and his wife, Beck Riordan. As we now know, Disney is very close to giving “Percy Jackson” an official greenlight. Now, why is this being mentioned? Well, Disney+ has very few fantasy series. There has been a big push from the author of “The Inheritance Cycle” book series to #RemakeEragon, so let’s look at how “Percy Jackson” could define the success of #RemakeEragon. NOTE: I will be referring to the “Eragon” series by the name of the franchise “The Inheritance Cycle”, except when mentioning the #RemakeEragon trend.

Reason #1: Disney Owns The Rights Through 20th Century

For those who may not remember, in 2006, 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) released an adaption of the first book in “The Inheritance Cycle”, that film was called “Eragon” and butchered a large number of things which made the original book so great. Now, I’m sure if Disney is smart, they would bring the author of “The Inheritance Cycle”, Christopher Paloni onboard to make sure an adaption of his four-part book series is as faithful to the original story as possible.

Reason #2: The Remake Hashtag Trend Worked For Percy Jackson

This is a point that is rather obvious, after the success of the #DisneyAdaptPercyJackson trend in 2020, leading to many authors and their fans on social media looking to see what other book properties could be remade or given sequels, some of the trends I personally participated in include #GiveAlitaHerSequel and obviously, #RemakeEragon. The movement helped Rick Riordan get Disney’s attention to produce a reboot of his beloved “Percy Jackson” franchise, and the #RemakeEragon trend was big enough to catch Disney’s attention, it seems as if they’re waiting to see how successful the “Percy Jackson” series is if it gets greenlit.

Reason #3: Disney+ Lacks Fantasy Series

Like many other genres of content Fantasy Television Series AREN’T a significant thing on Disney+ yet. With HBO’s “Game of Thrones” proving there is a massive market for such series to become worldwide hits. Sure, Disney+ is home to ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” and its spinoff “Once Upon A Time In Wonderland” series, but Disney+ is yet to grab much of the market share for fantasy TV. Disney clearly has some shows coming soon which fit into this genre, including the “Willow” series, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” series and the “Percy Jackson” series, and they could move select shows in their catalogue like “Galavant” to Disney+ to help build up the variety in this genre.

But “The Inheritance Cycle” could be a huge series for Disney+ if it got greenlit. I feel as if Disney is waiting to see how well “Willow”, “The Spiderwick Chronicles”, and especially “Percy Jackson” do on Disney+ before making a decision on calling up Mr Paloni. If Disney wants to have big-budget fantasy properties like rival Warnermedia then the “Percy Jackson” series is a perfect competitor to Warner’s “Harry Potter” franchise, whilst “The Inheritance Cycle” is a perfect, family-friendly series that could rival HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” in quality and audience.

Reason #4: Potential Audience Crossover

The original book in “The Inheritance Cycle” was self-published in 2002, but it was republished in 2003 by an actual publisher, whilst the first book in the “Percy Jackson” series came out a few years later 2005. For comparison, the releases of “The Inheritance Cycle” went as follows, “Eragon” in 2002 and 2003, “Eldest” in 2005, “Brisingr” in 2008 and “Inheritance” in 2011. The “Percy Jackson” saga was had books published in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 and two later spinoffs.

The “Percy Jackson” series is targeted at middle-grade audiences, and “The Inheritance Cycle” series is targeted at young adult audiences, so whilst the crossover potential of the audiences might seem small, it’s really not. Since the “Percy Jackson” series is already being developed for Disney+ and Disney, have yet to do anything with “The Inheritance Cycle” series, which could be a blessing in disguise. A series based on “The Inheritance Cycle” would probably be picked up during the “Percy Jackson” series’s later seasons, meaning the audience would be older and more suited to the story of “The Inheritance Cycle”.

Reason #5: Both Have Dedicated Fanbases

Both book series has been on the market for well over a decade, and in that time, both “Percy Jackson” and “The Inheritance Cycle” have built large dedicated audiences. The film adaptions for both franchises didn’t do much to win over fans, and the fanbases for both led to massive social media campaigns to try and grab the attention of Disney. An interesting note about this is Rick Riordan, and Becky Riordan both promoted the #RemakeEragon trend on their Twitter profiles.

Final Thoughts:

Both “Percy Jackson” and “The Inheritance Cycle” are franchises I feel got done dirty by 20th Century Fox as the “adaptations” stripped away so much of what made the novels great, for a desperate attempt to compete with Warnermedia’s successful “Harry Potter” franchise. Disney controls the rights to both franchises now, and Disney+ is the perfect place to adapt these franchises faithfully. You can cover more of the story through an eight to twelve-episode TV season than a two-hour-long film.

“Percy Jackson” could be a massive thing for Disney+, and hopefully, it will lead to Disney revisiting other previous 20th Century Fox franchises which failed. We are already seeing Disney revive some of these franchises like “Diary Of A Wimpy Kid” and “Percy Jackson”. “The Inheritance Cycle” is a well-known and beloved franchise, and Disney would be foolish to not have a discussion of a reboot after the success of the #RemakeEragon social media trend and Mr Paloni’s request to his dedicated fans to help make the series a reality.

One thing is for certain we know Disney will be watching to see what series are successful, and if “Percy Jackson” is a hit, then I see Disney grabbing “The Inheritance Cycle” with both hands.

What Do You Think? Will Percy Jackson Define A Potential Eragon Remake?

Ethan Holloway

Ethan is an autistic, type one diabetic, Disney fan who grew up with properties like Iron Man, The Lion King, Aladdin and Toy Story. Ethan wants to someday get his own books/films/TV shows made to inspire those with disabilities to be themselves, but for now, Ethan covers his opinions on Disney, their content and how Disney+ can improve.

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