Eragon

Eragon (stylized in all lowercase) is a 2006 action-fantasy film directed by Stefen Fangmeier (in his directorial debut) and written by Peter Buchman, based on Christopher Paolini’s 2002 novel of the same name. The film stars Ed Speleers in the title role as well as Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, Djimon Hounsou, Garrett Hedlund, Joss Stone and John Malkovich, with Rachel Weisz as the voice of Saphira the dragon.

Principal photography took place at the Mafilm Fót Studios in Hungary, starting on August 1, 2005. Visual effects and animation were by Weta Digital and Industrial Light & Magic. Eragon was released worldwide between December 13, 2006 and December 15, 2006 by 20th Century Fox. The film received widespread negative reviews from critics and book fans, who criticized its acting, screenplay, visuals and unfaithfulness to the source material, though its CGI and the performances of Speleers and Irons were praised by a few critics. It was the 10th worst reviewed film of 2006 on Rotten Tomatoes, but the 31st highest-grossing film of 2006 in the US. The film was released for home entertainment on March 20, 2007. Originally, Eragon was supposed to be the first in a franchise based on Paolini's Inheritance Cycle book series with Fangmeirer shooting both Eldest and Brisingr back-to-back. However, following the poor reception of Eragon on its release, the planned franchise was cancelled.