In addition to The Dark Tower series and The Talisman (co-written with Peter Straub), Stephen King dove headfirst into the world of fantasy with The Eyes of the Dragon, and now the novel (first published in 1984 before getting the mass market treatment in 1987) could be coming to life on screen, as Hulu has won a bidding battle for the rights to adapt The Eyes of the Dragon.
Deadline reports that Hulu is developing a pilot episode for a potential series adaptation of King's The Eyes of the Dragon. Hulu is teaming up with Fox 21 for the pilot episode, which is being executive produced by Bill Haber, Roy Lee, Jon Berg, David Katzenberg, and Seth Grahame-Smith, the lattermost of whom is also writing the first episode and will serve as showrunner if the series gets the green light.
Here's what Grahame-Smith (producer of 2017's IT, IT Chapter Two, and the Child's Play reimagining) told Deadline about The Eyes of the Dragon adaptation:
“I am so excited to be working in the world of Stephen King with with Hulu, which has such a terrific track record with Stephen King adaptations. The goal for this series is to feel unlike any Stephen King adaptation before, with this rich underlying source material, and the only true fantasy book he wrote that has kings and swords and princesses. We will honor the spirit of the book and the legacy.”
The Eyes of the Dragon takes place in the fantasy realm of Delain and features dark magic, a fractured royal family, the head of a slain dragon, a clever use of napkins, and Flagg (aka Randall Flagg and the Man in Black), the evil entity who also appears in King's Dark Tower books and The Stand.
The bidding battle for the rights to adapt The Eyes of the Dragon also included Apple, who is moving forward on an adaptation of King's 2006 book Lisey's Story.
An adaptation of The Eyes of the Dragon was previously in development at Syfy back in 2012, but it ended up not moving forward.
We'll have to wait and see if Hulu gives a series order to The Eyes of the Dragon after seeing the pilot episode, and we'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated as more details are revealed. In the meantime, we have the book's synopsis and cover art below (via Amazon):
“Once, in a kingdom called Delain, there was a king with two sons….”
Thus begins one of the most unique tales that master storyteller Stephen King has ever written—a sprawling fantasy of dark magic and the struggle for absolute power that utterly transforms the destinies of two brothers born into royalty. Through this enthralling masterpiece of mythical adventure, intrigue, and terror, you will thrill to this unforgettable narrative filled with relentless, wicked enchantment, and the most terrible of secrets….
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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