The new dragon fantasy film “Eragon” has proven to be a real disappointment to North American audiences, but has found life with the international film community.
This past weekend the film grossed a little over $23 million in North American ticket sales with a majority of movie goers leaving the theater turned off by their viewing experience. Most claiming that the film simply did not come close to living up to the novels, the character development was shallow and the story had far too many weak points in it.
However, this fantasy flick captured the families at the foreign box office. It garnered a hair over $30 million in only 53 overseas markets, finishing first in 22 of them. Making it the box office winner internationally, while it only scored a weak second place in the U.S. weekend tally.
Spain was the country most enthralled by the tale of the young lad who becomes a fearless Dragon Rider, followed by Germany and then England (where Bond is still King). On this side of the globe “Eragon” did manage to slip into first place south of the border, down Mexico way.
>>> Most claiming that the film simply did not come close to living up to the novels, the character development was shallow and the story had far too many weak points in it.
Sorry, my comment seems to have been cut off. Here’s the rest:
Did any of these people actually read the book? In the novel the character development was shallow, the story had far too many weak points in it and the dialog was atrocious! I was actually hoping the transition from book to movie would improve it, which is unheard of, in my opinion.
The only thing that saved it from being one of the worst books I’ve ever read is that there were some cool ideas in there. The way magic works, the nature of Shades and Dragons, the werecat. Unfortunately, cool ideas alone are not sufficient to make a good story. Which is a shame considering I have far more ideas floating around in my head than I have skill to write down.
It may be that the later novels improve on the first, but they would have to improve immensely to get me to read them. And I guess I wait on the movie until I can see it for free.