THE VISION AND TRIUMPH OF CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI: BRINGING ERAGON TO THE SCREEN

Upon its initial release in hardcover by Knopf in August 2003, the novel Eragon became a worldwide publishing phenomenon. The book was an instant bestseller and has since spent 87 consecutive weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List, and 21 consecutive months on Publisher’s Weekly Young Adult Fiction Bestseller List, including nine months at #1. Eragon has sold 2.5 million copies in hardcover and paperback in North America alone, and the book has been published in 38 countries.

Eragon is the first novel of a trilogy. The second book, Eldest, was published in the United States and Canada in August 2005, and quickly became the number-one selling book in the United States. It has sold over one million hardcover copies, was number-one on The New York Times Children’s Best Seller list, and was a USA Today Top-50 Bestseller. It won the Young Adult/Teen 2006 Quill Book Award.

At the time of release of the ERAGON motion picture, the novel Eragon held the number-one slot on The New York Times Children’s Paperback Best Seller List, and Eldest was number-one on the Times’ Children’s Hardcover Best Seller List. Sales of both books increased steadily with the release of the Eldest Limited Edition the move tie-in books – and with the help of the film’s promotional activities.

Paolini’s own story is a fantasy in itself. The first edition of Eragon was self- published by his family. The following year, Alfred A. Knopf published the novel worldwide, to huge acclaim.

Paolini, now 22, grew up in Paradise Valley, Montana – a location which inspired much of the story’s fantastic environments. His novels reflect his personal experiences growing up in a valley of the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, not unlike the valley that Eragon called home.

Screenwriter Peter Buchman, whose credits include "Jurassic Park III," wrote the screenplay. Buchman, a fan of fantasy and science fiction literature and films, says he was "blown away" by the author’s precociousness, his mastery of plot lines and characters, and his ability to create several completely imaginary worlds. Buchman worked hard to serve the richness of Paolini’s story and characters – and the book’s legions of fans – while crafting a screenplay that would attract newcomers to the world of ERAGON.

At the center of both novel and film is the bond between Eragon and Saphira. "Christopher came up with this wonderful idea of a young man who develops a bond with a dragon," says Buchman. "That relationship is at the core of the book, and that’s what we had to translate to film."

It was Buchman’s script that drew the attention of Stefen Fangmeier. "I found it to be an exciting read," says the director. "With the book’s fantastical aspects, people would look at me in terms of the visual effects requirements. However, my first reaction to the material was that it was a great story that had an emotional arc."

ERAGON presents a mythology in which Dragon Riders had once brought peace and prosperity to the land of Alagaësia. Dragons gave their Riders magical powers, even immortality. No enemy could defeat them – until one of their own, Galbatorix, decided to take all the power for himself and cut down the Dragon Riders. But with Eragon’s discovery of a gleaming sapphire egg, which hatches a dragon he names Saphira, the time of the Dragon Riders has come again.

Having discovered his true path as a Dragon Rider, and with the help of his mentor Brom, Eragon is determined to bring back the golden age of justice once known throughout the land, if he can survive the machinations of King Galbatorix. Eragon is swept into a world of magic and power, becoming a true hero to – and the last hope of – the people of Alagaësia.

Taking on the title role is newcomer Ed Speleers, 18, who got the part after Twentieth Century Fox and the filmmakers conducted a worldwide casting search, which rivaled the hunt for a cinematic "Harry Potter" and included hundreds of auditions and dozens of screen tests.

The film also stars Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons as Brom, a former Dragon Rider who becomes Eragon’s mentor; Oscar® nominee John Malkovich as the powerful and evil King Galbatorix; BAFTA Award winner Robert Carlyle as the powerful sorcerer Durza; Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou as Ajihad, the leader of the rebel Varden; Sienna Guillory as the beautiful warrior Arya; and Garrett Hedlund as a young man with a past.

Befitting Saphira’s regal bearing, one of today’s finest actors – Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz – provides the dragon’s "voice." Weisz’s performance brings to life Christopher Paolini’s key idea for the novel: the method by which Saphira communicates with Eragon. Saphira does not speak; her lips never move as they would with a traditional CG character. Instead, the dragon connects telepathically with her Rider, which reinforces the emotional, almost spiritual bond between the two characters.

ERAGON is directed by Stefen Fangmeier, one of the motion picture industry’s true visual effects geniuses. During his tenure at Industrial Light & Magic, Fangmeier supervised films such as "Saving Private Ryan," "Twister," "The Perfect Storm" and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." He is a three-time BAFTA Award winner, and is a four-time Oscar nominee.

For ERAGON, Fangmeier’s visual effects teams employ every state-of-the-art technique to create Saphira and take the audience to the magical, timeless world of Alagaësia – not forward to a futuristic science fiction creation. Under his direction, Wolf Kroeger’s production design, Hugh Johnson’s cinematography, and Kym Barrett’s sleek costumes, give the film a contemporary edge.