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魔龍降世 俠影現身 人龍合一 天下盡得
昨日非凡命運 今日驚世傳奇
雄霸【紐約時報】暢銷榜87周魔幻小說 首度強攻大銀幕
奇幻經險絕倫 十年難得一見
本年度最矚目特技鉅製聖誕片霸
二十世紀霍士影片 榮譽發行
Fox 2000 Pictures 呈獻 Davis Entertainment Company 製作
根據 基斯杜化布尼理小說 改編
導演： 史提芬凡米亞 《未來戰士續集》
監製： 尊戴維斯 《智能叛變》
奇葛費 《異獸戰》
執行監製： 喬力卡 《來電險事》
基斯史美斯 《異獸戰》
聯合監製： 羅渣伯頓 《星球大戰前傳III黑帝君臨》
阿當葛曼 《雷霆救兵》
編劇： 彼德布哲文 《侏羅紀公園3》
製作設計： 路夫格特爾 《殺戰風雲》
攝影指導： 曉治莊遜 《伴我雄心》
音樂： 柏德烈杜爾 《哈利波特：火盃的考驗》金像提名
服裝設計： 甘伯勒 《廿二世紀殺人網絡》
剪接： 羅渣伯頓 《星球大戰前傳III黑帝君臨》
特別視覺特技及動畫製作： 「Industrial Light and Magic」
演員： 艾活斯皮雅士
謝洛美艾朗斯 《天國驕雄》金像提名
尊麥高維治 《驚天動地》金像提名
絲娜佳萊莉 《生化危機之殲滅生環者》
羅拔卡路 《新鐵金剛之黑日危機》
迪哲文侯蘇 《魔間行者》金像提名
加勒赫倫迪 《木馬屠城》
佐絲史東
魔龍思飛配音： 麗素慧絲 《無國界追兇》金像女星
片長、級數、戲院： 待定
12月14日 見龍在天
電影及故事簡介
《俠影魔龍》圍繞著神龍騎士 Eragon 追尋夢想的冒險故事。「二十世紀霍士影片公司」本年度重頭特技鉅獻，未開拍已經先聲奪人，千挑細選下，找來驚為天人的美少年新星──艾活斯皮雅士，伙拍各大影帝包括謝洛美艾朗斯、尊麥高維治等，合演嘆為觀止、刺激無比的曠世佳作。
《俠影魔龍》故事作者更於他15歲的時候完成此故事，隨即連續87個星期榮登「紐約時報」最佳銷量鎊，深受世界各國全天侯歡迎，而且更由《星戰前傳》George Lucas力撐的「特別效果大師」史提芬凡米亞執掌導演筒，絕對是一套引頸以待、賣座保證的世紀鉅片。
前言
魔龍，在兩個世紀以來，一直是人類文明中最神秘、最引人入勝的生物。在不同文化及歷史裏面，牠象徵了不同的義意︰有人敬愛牠，有人畏懼牠，有人甚至將牠當作神靈般膜拜。直至今日，魔龍在我們流行文化中仍佔有舉足輕重的地位。
然而在電影上，魔龍從未試過以一個完整、具說服力的姿態活現銀幕，但《俠影魔龍》將會改寫這個事實︰這齣本年度聖誕鉅片，由同名暢銷奇幻小說作為藍本，再加上曾分別負責《魔戒》及《星戰》系列而聞名於世的兩大特技工場-----WETA Digital及Industrial Light & Magic的跨刀合作， 將魔龍的傳說以前所未有的方式，帶到觀眾眼前。
故事簡介
《俠影魔龍》講述發生於亞厲基世亞奇幻世界的龍騎士傳奇。在傳說中，龍騎士在魔龍的庇佑下，不單能夠施展魔法，甚至具有長生不老、無可匹敵的力量，為世界帶來和平和昌盛。直至他們當中出現了一位叛徒──戈巴托，他滅了龍騎士一族，將魔力據為己有，並自封為王，以邪惡統治亞厲基世亞。然而當少年伊拉岡（艾活斯皮雅士 飾）發現了一隻青玉色的龍蛋，被將之蜉化成魔龍思飛後，龍騎士一族終於重出江湖。
在碩果僅存的龍騎士布藍誘導下，伊拉岡逐漸悟出了龍騎士之道，並決心與戈巴托對抗，為世界申張正義，結果伊拉岡闖入了一個魔法世界，成為一位真正的英雄，以及亞厲基世亞人民最後的希望。
原著威水史
《俠影魔龍》小說系列，是近年繼《哈利波特》後，另一本瘋麾青萬千少年讀者，掀起全球性現象的奇幻小說大作。系列的第一集《Eragon》於2003年8月面世，甫推出即高據【紐約時報】暢銷書榜達連續87個星期，並同時9個星期成為【Publisher’s Weekly】青少年小說暢銷榜冠軍，單在北美州就賣出了250萬本。第二步曲《Eldest》的成績更加驚人，它於2005年美國推出時，迅即登上銷量榜首，並輕易衝破100萬銷量大關。今年《Eldest》更以大熱姿態在權威文學大獎 【Quill Book Award】上，贏得「最佳青少年小說」大獎，風頭跟《哈利波特》不相伯仲。
整套小說系列共由《Eragon》、《Eldest》及尚未推出及命名的第三集所組成，稱之為「承傳三步曲」(Inheritance Trilogy)，今次電影版的故事，就是根據小說的第一集改編而成。
傳奇少年作者
《俠影魔龍》的銷量成績震撼，但更令人驚訝，是它的作者基斯杜化布尼理 (Christopher Paolini) 撰寫首集時，只是位15歲的少年！而他的成長歷程，比小說本身更具傳奇性。
生於1983年的基斯杜化，從懂事起就在家中接受私人教育，自幼喜歡閱讀及寫作，影響他最深的小說就是奇幻經典《魔戒三部曲》。由於基斯杜化成長的美國Montana的Paradise Valley地理奇特，他開始幻想家鄉為「中土世界」，在腦中構思奇幻故事。結果從1998年開始，基斯杜化以5年時間寫出了以龍騎士為主角的《Eragon》，其家人讀後驚為天人，立即自資替他出版成書，後來小說口碑載道，最後獲得國際出版社Knopf垂青買下，全球出版權，令基斯杜化在一夜間成為全球最有名的年輕小說家。
劇本之誕生
《俠影魔龍》小說大熱，故事版權順理成章成為各大電影公司的爭奪對象，結果「二十世紀霍士影片」擊敗多名對手成功「奪龍」，更找來曾經創作《侏羅紀公園 3》 (Jurassic Park III) 的彼德布哲文 (Peter Buchman) 負責編劇。
身為編劇老手的彼德，在讀過原著後，對基斯杜化早熟的才華深感佩服，尤其是他在故事鋪排、人物描寫、以及在創造一個神話領域的技巧上，已見大師風範。所以彼德可謂接了一份優差，他需要做的根本不多，只要將故事及人物加以潤色，特別是突出主角伊拉岡與魔龍思飛的關係，來吸引一班對原著所知無幾的觀眾，就已經大功告成。
為了令編本更宗於原著，彼德在編寫期間曾多次接觸正在為第二集執筆的基斯杜化，在出乎意料外，這位原作者竟然肯為劇本提供一些絕密資料，彼德回憶道︰「記得當時基斯杜化跟我說，要告訴我一些連他父母都不知道的秘密，結果那當然是第二集《Eldest》的精彩預告。」
結果彼德的劇本引來了曾負責《驚濤駭浪》及《軍天勇將：戰海豪情》的特技大師史提芬凡米亞 (Stefen Fangmeier) 注意，決定為電影操刀︰「那劇本單是讀起來已令人興奮絕倫。基於我的特技工作背景，大家都以為我只對故事中的奇幻元素感到興趣，其實當我讀完劇本後的即時反應，反而是被當中的感人情節所打動。」
尋找龍騎士
為了尋找伊拉岡一角，「二十世紀霍士影片」展開了長達多個月的全球的尋人行動，規模不下於當年《哈利波特》尋找「哈利仔」人選，最後經過無數的面試及試鏡，結果終於誕生，他就是18歲的艾活斯皮雅士 (Ed Speleers)。導演史提芬回憶起首次跟艾活見面時，已經心感他就是真命天子︰「艾活來到試鏡室，我跟其他工作人員面面相覷，心想︰他就是書中的伊拉岡了!我從Ed身上感到強烈的光采及生命力，從而知道他命中注定要成為銀幕巨星。」
當艾活贏得伊拉岡的角色時，其實他正在準備莎劇《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet) 的學校戲劇表演，但一夜之間，他竟然搖身變成一位專業演員，對此他十分驚訝︰「當日我們在斯洛伐克拍攝外景時，我們被直昇機送到一個山頂之上，被四周壯麗景色重重包圍，我站在懸崖邊心想『我究竟在做甚麼？我本應正在學校考試，但卻在這裡享受人生最美好的時刻』。假如我繼續拍電影---當然這是我很樂意去做的事---相信也未必有機會再感受那種的激盪的心情。」
儘管艾活的演出經驗有限，但他輕易地就投了入角色，因為他從伊拉岡的旅程身上找到了自己的影子︰「我展開了人生中的一個新旅程，情形跟伊拉岡一樣。我一直循規蹈矩地生活著，做平凡人所做的事，但轉眼間我突然置身於一個令人驚嘆不已的世界之中，成為電影主角。我跟伊拉岡一樣，令夠找到自己、結交到不同的人物、並且得到前所未有的經驗。」
夢幻卡士陣容
除了有艾活飾演伊拉岡之外，《俠影魔龍》還有一個夢幻卡士陣容，幾乎每位都是奧斯卡級人馬。
首先有金像影星謝洛美艾朗斯 (Jeremy Irons) 飾演伊拉岡師傅布藍，此人是亞厲基世亞奇幻世界中碩果僅存的龍騎士，武藝高強，他對接演這個角色深感興奮︰「我已經有好一陣子沒有演過這種大型冒險電影，也很久沒有跟年輕觀眾在銀幕上見面。布藍吸引我的地方，是雖然他是個好人，但性格既幽默又兇猛。」
為了演好角色，謝洛美接受了書中所描述的劍術訓練︰「小說中所描寫的劍術十分獨特，它比西方中古的劍術更為隱秘，較為接近東方劍派。因此我每日鍛鍊自己的手腕，讓自己有足夠力量在劍擊場面中親身上陣。」相反片中的騎馬場面，對本身是一位馬術高手的謝洛美來講，則是輕而易舉。而中謝洛美與艾活的師徒關係，更伸延在鏡頭之外，二人發展出一段亦師亦友的情誼，艾活透露︰「謝洛美經常給我很多意見，令我獲益良多，而且他的善意是出自真心，跟布藍對待伊拉岡的態度一樣。」
至於飾演邪惡君王戈巴托的，則是演過《驚天動地》及《玩謝麥高維治》以飾演大奸角而聞名的尊麥高維治 (John Malkovich)。雖然戲戈巴托跟主角伊拉岡沒有對手戲，但他為人冷血邪惡，就算不在故事中現身已足已為主角們帶來無窮恐懼。雖然尊麥高維治與Ed沒有同場較技的機會，但Ed日漸急升的人氣，卻令這位實力派金像男星印象深刻︰「我出發到布達佩斯拍攝前，有朋友托我為一大班小朋友要艾活的簽名。自從多年前跟里安納度狄卡比奧合作後，已很久沒有遇上這種事了。」
飾演戈巴托幽靈副手杜沙的，則是憑《光豬六壯士》奪過英國奧斯卡BAFTA影帝的羅拔卡拉尼 (Robert Carlyle)。杜沙是片中伊拉岡最重要的敵人，他不單魔力高強，更有駕馭魔龍的能力。演過不少衣冠禽獸角危的羅拔，完全毋需以典型的惡型惡相去處理這個英俊蒼白、紅髮紫眼的邪魔，因為超卓的特技化妝，已為他締造出懾人邪氣，據知艾活初次見到羅拔的造型時，更被對方嚇倒呢！
在故事開始，杜沙以邪惡力量對付美女精靈戰士艾莉亞，阻些她保護龍蛋並尋找新一代龍騎士，這個美貌與武藝並重的角色，由演過《生化危機之殲滅生還者》的英國女星絲娜佳萊莉 (Sienna Guillory) 擔綱，她這樣形容艾莉亞︰「她是一個精靈，熟悉大自然的一切，從樹木的動態、風的方向，她便可以預知危難來臨，因此她的戰術有帶一種禪味。這個角色並非一般打女，她非常有女人味，而且在片中我可以享受到騎馬及劍擊，真的很難得。」
絲娜又大讚《廿二世紀殺人網絡》服裝設計師甘伯勒所創作的戲服，為建立艾莉亞一角功不可沒︰「她的戲服有種永恆的味道，帶出故事並非遠古也非未來的時空，而她為艾莉亞所設計的服飾與自然及環保息息相關，質感非常柔軟溫和，穿起時十分飄逸。」
此外片中還有由曾獲金像提名黑人男星，暨《魔間行者》金像提名迪哲文侯蘇 (Djimon Hounsou) 反黑統帥阿哲赫，以及由《木馬屠城》加勒赫倫迪 (Garrett Hedlund) 飾演的神箭手摩德，二人都是被原著深深吸引而參演，後者更為角色接受了地獄式的體能訓練，包括拳擊及射擊技巧，但加勒則稱反而被摩德暗藏的性格所迷住︰「他心底中有鮮為人知的另一面，因為他有一段並不光采的過去。」
卡士當中還有一個新鮮熱辣的金像得主，她就是為魔龍思飛配音的《無國界追兇》本屆奧斯卡最佳女配角得主麗素慧絲 (Rachel Weisz)。
真正明星──魔龍思飛
《俠影魔龍》的演員卡士固然強勁，但監製們一早認為魔龍思飛-----也是片中身價最高的演員，才是真的明星。不過小說原作者基斯杜化將把思飛形容為「人類最好的朋友」，與一般神話中魔龍的凶猛形象大相逕庭，令一班特技人員無論在創作上或技術上都面臨了重大的挑戰。
負責承擔這個任務的，正是影片的視覺效果總監米高麥亞里斯達 (Michael McAlister)，他解釋了創作思飛的難度︰「為思飛注入生命，是一個需要全神灌注的工作，當中有數以千計的細節要去決定，由於思飛並不是由我憑空創造的，所以我要由內到外去了解她，她的外貌、動力、與感，飛行時的動態，都必須根據原著考量。」
為了炮製出一隻銀幕史上最栩栩如生的魔龍，米高邀請了享譽業界的特技工場Industrial Light & Magic 坐陣，曾為《星戰前傳︰黑帝君臨》繪畫尤達大師及General Grievous 的動畫總監格蘭麥英托殊 (Glen McIntosh)，以及 ILM 特效主任沙莫荷安 (Samir Hoon)，形容創造思飛是一個進化過程，沙莫解釋︰「從思飛在小說封面上的形象、到造型設定草圖、直到在銀幕上我們看到的形態，我們在創作時一直面對一個難題︰就是如果打造一條觀眾從未見過的魔龍，但同時又要忠於原普的描繪？」結果他們由思飛一對翼的顏色、頭部的大小、頸項的長度開始逐一設計。最後思飛化身成了一隻身驅瘦長典雅、充滿女性及貴族氣質的魔龍，在片中我們更可以見到她從一隻10吋長的幼龍，成長至一隻重5公噸、32呎長、15呎高、飛翼長達30呎的巨龍。
接下來格蘭就要為思飛的動態而傷腦筋，困難在於魔龍從來都是一種虛構的生物，設計她的動態要花費不少想像力︰「飛思既不是動物、也不屬於怪獸，同時她又擁有相當細膩演戲技巧。」一班動畫人員決定用獅子作為參考，來描繪出思飛的步伐，他們花了大量時間研究獅子的動作，同時又觀察幼狼和幼獅，來描繪思飛年幼時惹人憐愛的模樣。另外思飛的巨翼，則取材自飛鷹，但卻將翼上傳統的羽毛設計，改成為半毛半鱗狀。至於曾將《魔戒》及《King Kong》內的咕嚕及大猩猩變成演技高手的WETA Digital，則為思飛的的表情作出最後微細調整，令她的演出更為活靈活現，尤其在戰鬥場面上，思飛十足是一隻馬匹及戰機的混合體。
由於思飛不懂用口講說話，她只是心靈感應跟伊拉岡溝通，因此更需要一把懂演戲的聲音去聲演，為此監製找來了本屆奧斯卡最佳女配角得主麗素慧絲配音，務求帶出思飛的靈魂與感情。
全片高潮──Farthen Dûr之戰
《俠影魔龍》中大場面不絕，但高潮的一幕，則肯定要數「Farthen Dûr之戰」。在這一場激戰中，邪惡的戈巴托大軍入侵的華登義士的要塞，伊拉岡騎著思飛幫助華登義士進行頑抗，而杜沙則利用地上的亡兵屍體變成一隻巨獸，與伊拉岡展開一場對空戰。
在小說中這場戰役極為龐大及複雜，單是要將地面的戰況搬上銀幕，就要動用數以百計的臨時演員及動作替身，而戰場地勢亦十分獨特︰華登義士的要塞建於一個火山口之上，懸崖峭壁下依山而建的，則是一個以白大理石興建的遺城，代表了亞厲基世亞的光輝衰落，而城中的建築物每每高達一里。
由於「Farthen Dûr之戰」的規模實在過於龐大，根本不可能在片場中拍攝，於是美術設計主任路夫格特爾 (Wolf Kroeger) 在多次的外景考察後，決定於匈牙利鄰近奧地利邊界的一個礦場及火山口旁，搭建電影史上其中一個最大型的場景，作為正邪交戰的地點。單聽就知這次工程認真大陣象，首先工作人員在開工前，要先開闢一條道路連接礦場火山口，以便運送物資。從計劃到興建完成，工作人員足足花了16個星期的心血，最後他們終於成功把一個荒蕪的礦場，變成故事中充滿人氣的義士要塞。
在動作戲方面，曾經參與過四集《哈利波特》電影、素有動作專家之稱的副導彼特麥當奴 (Peter MacDonald)，則率領450位臨時演員及動作替身，以每晚拍攝10小的刻苦進度，拍攝他心目中「既偏鋒又充滿格鬥感覺」的戰爭場面，然而過程困難重重，首先代表邪惡的Urgal一族是一種很高大的生物，平均身高達6呎6吋，反而他們的對手精靈一族則只有5呎，因此鏡頭上要作出很多遷就。其次就是在夜間拍攝所帶來的連串問題，《伴我雄心》攝影總監曉治莊遜 (Hugh Johnson) 表示︰「那個場方大得到不得了，打燈非常艱難。」為了將器材裝置在險要及變化莫測的火山口地勢上，電影公司更要特別聘請一班俄羅斯登山專家來負責這個任務。為了配合實際拍攝，《廿二世紀殺人網絡》服裝設計師甘伯勒 (Kym Barrett) 也將主角的盔甲設計得更輕盈及流線型，質料以皮革為主，免得班演員們百上加斤。
完成匈牙利外景拍攝只是第一步，之後副導彼特拉大隊到英國著名的Pinewood Studios，利用藍幕拍攝伊拉岡騎著思飛，跟杜沙空中大戰的部分，今次這位動作專家要求更高︰「要極盡動感之能事，像玩過山車一樣刺激！」為此工作人員利用了一個由水力起動、電影控制的吊臂，來模仿飛龍的動作，兩位主角坐在吊臂上，完全體驗到乘坐飛龍翱翔天際的感受。
雖然要不停地在吊臂上模擬飛行、俯衝、轉圈，像玩機動遊戲一樣，但艾活斯皮雅士卻非常享受，並很樂意拍到盡善盡美。導演史提芬凡米亞則事先利用電腦 pre-visualization 進行虛擬綵排，令整個空戰場面完美地將現實及幻想結合︰「我想將騎龍的感覺拍成像騎著戰機的感覺一樣，令你不停地哇聲驚嘆。」更多叫人哇聲驚嘆的場面，則要再度由 WETA Digital 出手。在戰鬥場面中思飛會表現得更加好鬥，性格變得更加成熟，這些都要靠動畫師的手筆。他們甚至為思飛穿上一襲盔甲，又為她在月光下咆哮的一幕重新設計畫面色調，令思飛在銀幕上更具氣勢。
至於杜沙所乘坐的死亡巨獸──一隻用亡兵屍體結合而成的殺人機器──也令WETA Digital 的人員花下一番苦功，兩位特效主任佐治梅菲 (George Murphy) 與格雅威廉斯 (Guy Williams) 稱︰「巨獸的造型很早就有定案，它跟思飛對比很強烈──頭部畸形地大、滿口利齒、而且沒有腳。試想像一隻狼蛛跟蝙蝠合體，再配上一個長有吸血鬼利牙的水牛頭，就是巨獸的模樣了。」由於巨獸以煙及灰塵的效果現身，因此 WETA Digital 要特別開發新的電腦系統，去處理這兩種元素的動態。
此外WETA Digital還利用電腦將匈牙利的大型場景作出伸展，融合真人動作鏡頭，炮製出壯觀的浩瀚的交鋒鏡頭。擅長處理電腦角色表情的WETA Digital動畫人員，同時也在一些感人的場面上，將思飛的面部神態描繪的更為細緻。
龐大外景 實現畢生夢想
《俠影魔龍》故事所發生的亞厲基世亞，是一個空想國度，完全靠WETA及ILM鬼斧神工的電腦特技，以及匈牙利及斯洛伐克的實景配合而成，是這次取景規模之龐大，更打破了兩個城市過往的製片紀錄，攝製大隊在布達佩斯的大本營，足足有500位工作之員之多。故事中伊拉岡成長的Garrow' s Farm，則是在布達佩斯45分鐘車程以外的Budakesi，一個私人場地所變身而成。
至於戈巴托所藏身的窩穴，則在一個只能在上方進入的山邊洞穴拍攝，所有攝影機、器材及戲服均要利用吊臂從洞口吊入，不過工作人員置身其中也要小心翼翼，因為那裡是一個著名的歷史遺址。斯洛伐克美麗的大自然景色------山麓、峽谷、瀑布等----都為影片提供了不少天然佈景。
在眾多演員、幕後隊伍、特技人員、工程及手藝技工的心血協力下，基斯杜化布尼理的幻想世界終於以一種無可想像的方式誕生，這位今年已經23歲的原作者說︰「我一直將《Eragon》視為一齣電影，那些角色及動作場面早已在我心入面，只是我沒有資金去製作電影，才將故事寫成小說而且已。」這一刻《俠影魔龍》電影的出現，基斯杜化的夢想終於成真，也證明了天下間其實沒有不現實現的夢想。
演員及角色介紹
l 伊拉岡 Eragon──命定的人
一個來自卡維可的年輕人，身上潛藏著一種失傳已久的神秘力量，命中注定他是「龍騎士」的唯一傳人。
自小在農村長大的伊拉岡與叔叔相依為命，一日在打獵途中，意外地發現了一隻巨型的龍蛋，不久龍蛋孵化成戰龍思飛 。
伊拉岡為了成為龍騎士決定接受艱辛的劍術與法術訓練，他和戰龍將要用他們的神奇力量拯救萬民，帶領他們走出邪惡帝國。
艾活斯皮雅士 飾演 伊拉岡
今年18歲的艾活斯皮雅士由「二十世紀霍士影片」及《俠影魔龍》監製所舉辦的全球性召募主角中脫穎而出，經過多輪選及試鏡，以新人姿態贏得男主角伊拉岡席位。
來自南英國的艾活，當日在試鏡中，只用了半個小時，就說服到一眾監製他就是主角最佳人選，而當時離開鏡大日子只剩數天。雖然艾活從沒有大銀幕的演出經驗，只參與過學校的話劇演出，但現時他已完成學業，準備全身投入演藝事業。
l 布藍 Brom──智者老人
布藍是碩果僅存的龍騎士，當年戰龍被屠殺，他在邪惡帝國的統治下，以說故事的智者身分行走江湖，直至發現伊拉岡是龍騎士的新一代接班人。一代悍將布藍視伊拉岡如親生兒，將魔法心得及古老語言全部傳授給他。
金像影帝 謝洛美艾朗斯 飾演 布藍
倫敦劇場出身的謝洛美是影壇公認的好戲之人，早年曾憑《The Real Thing》一劇奪得劇界最高榮譽的東尼獎影帝。踏入影圈後謝洛美的佳作更加多不勝數，例如跟羅拔迪尼路合作的《戰火浮生》、與梅麗史翠普合演的《法國中尉的女人》、恐怖大導大衛哥連堡的《孽扣》及《蝴蝶君》等，到1990年終憑《Reversal of Fortune》奪得奧斯卡及金球獎雙料影帝。
謝洛美的代表作還包括《盜美人》、《鐵面王子》、《虎膽龍威3》、《一樹梨花壓海棠》、 《情迷祖莉亞》、《天國驕雄》等。他是電影史上第十四位演員連續勇奪各大表演藝術上三大殊榮：包括「影壇大獎」奧斯卡金像獎、「劇場大獎」東尼獎及「影視大獎」艾美獎。
l 艾莉亞 Arya──美女精靈
精通心靈感應的精靈艾莉亞，被華登義士任命保衛龍蛋，龍蛋是他們對抗國王戈巴托的最後武器。在險象環生的看守過程中，艾莉亞中伏被關進牢獄，她藉著進入伊拉岡的夢中與他溝通，嘗試尋求救援。
絲娜佳萊莉 飾演 艾莉亞
出生於英國倫敦的絲娜姬萊莉，拍此片前打敗了二千個試鏡者而成為艾莉亞。她活躍於英國電視界，曾拍過多部著名電視劇集，其後投身於電影圈，最為觀眾熟悉的作品莫過於《生化危機︰殲滅生還者》。Sienna其他曾參演過的電影還包括《真的戀愛了》、《時光凶間》及電視版《木馬屠城記》等。
絲娜曾經是Paul Smith 的御用模特兒，也成為名牌香水Hugo Boss及名牌衣飾 Armani、Dolce & Gabanna、Burberry的代言人，也被Maxim 雜誌選為 「世上一百個最性感女人」第 89 位。
l 戈巴托 Galbatorix──邪惡君王
統治亞厲基西亞西域的邪惡君王，在十多歲時發現了龍騎士的異能，但他在意外中喪失首隻魔龍，結果誤入歧途。
舞台影帝 尊麥高維治 飾演 戈巴托
尊麥高維治是荷里活緣葉王，擅演反派角色，其中以《驚天動地》中的大壞蛋最深入民心，其後憑參演《玩謝麥高維治》的廣為人熟悉，並得到紐約影評人協會獎的最佳男配角。
尊是由舞台走上銀幕的實力派演員，曾兩次獲得奧斯卡最佳男配提名的尊麥高維治，演而優則導，曾導演過《Hideous Man》及《The Dancer Upstairs》，而他也身兼監製，最近跟尊尼狄普合作的《不羈逃情》就是由他監製及參演。
l 杜沙──可怕幽靈
邪惡君王戈巴托的副手，擁有強大的魔法力量，和懂得操控靈魂，實力較美女精靈艾莉亞強，能駕馭魔龍思飛，是伊拉岡最重要的敵人。
羅拔卡拉尼 飾演 杜沙
無論是《迷幻烈車》中的暴力惡男、《新鐵金剛之黑日危機》中冷血壞蛋，抑或《光豬六壯士》中跳艷舞搵食的單親爸爸，羅拔硬朗、火爆的演出都令人留下深刻印象。出身於格拉斯哥的羅拔，畢業於當地的藝術學院演劇系，後來開始在英國的電影及本土電影中大放異彩，更憑《光》奪得BAFTA影帝榮譽。近年羅拔最大的挑戰，莫過於在CBS電視劇《Hitler: The Rise of Evil》中扮演希特勒。
l 摩德 Murtagh──小箭神
小流氓摩德在逃亡到亞厲基世亞的途中認識了伊拉岡，兩人隨即成為生死之交。精於箭藝的摩德以不明原因極力脫離國王戈巴托魔爪。雖然摩德的父親摩辛來自黑暗族群叛騎士，但摩德決定棄暗投明。摩德一角由加勒赫倫迪飾演。
l 阿哲赫 Ajihad──反黑統帥
擅長戰術的阿哲赫，率領華登義士與邪惡國王戈巴托進行一場生死存亡的終極戰爭，而華登義士是能夠打敗暴帝的唯一希望。阿哲赫一角由迪哲文侯蘇飾演。
l Roran──伊拉岡的表親及好友
澳洲演員基斯杜化艾根飾演Roran，他曾於1998年勇奪北岸最佳男主角，也分別於1995年及1999年出演舞台劇《孤星淚》及《夢斷城西》。
l 魔龍思飛 Saphira ──由麗素慧絲配音
麗素慧絲 聲演 魔龍思飛
出身倫敦的麗素一向擅演美麗與智慧並重、倔強能幹又大膽的女性，例如在《盜墓迷城》、《盜墓迷城２》、《單身插班生》及《魔間行者》中，她都是演繹類似角色，就算今年帶挈她贏得奧斯卡最佳女配角的《無國界追兇》亦不例外。麗素近作有由她丈夫達倫艾朗夫斯基執導、跟曉治積曼合演的《超時空．愛》，以及正在拍攝中、由王家衛導演的《My Blueberry Nights》。
導演介紹
l 導演：史提芬凡米亞
在加州出身的史提芬是荷里活第一代電腦特技人員，在大學修讀電腦的他畢業後即投身電影特效行業，直到1990年，他轉到佐治魯卡斯旗下的著名特效工場ILM，首齣負責的電影就是《未來戰士續集》，片中的CG鏡頭至今仍然經典，之後他參與過的作品還有《鐵勾船長》、《鬼馬小靈精》及《侏羅紀公園》，而《龍捲風暴》及《雷霆救兵》更令他先後兩次贏得BAFTA最佳視覺效果獎，並獲得奧斯卡提名。
曾為《星河救兵》及《漏網之靈》出任副導的Stefen，在完成《尼蒙利斯連環不幸事件》的特效工作後，決定離開ILM展開導演生涯，《俠影魔龍》正是他首齣正式執導之作。
2006 聖誕鉅獻
12月14日 見龍在天
HK Releasing Date: December 14, 2006 (Thursday)
** 2006 X’mas Hollywood Blockbuster
ERAGON, a fantasy adventure for young people based on the phenomenally successful novel by Christopher Paolini – the first book in the young author’s epic Inheritance Trilogy – is a timeless yet modern tale.
The book’s most fantastical character – a flying dragon named Saphira – arrives via the high-tech wizardry of the industry’s most honored visual effects houses: WETA Digital (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong”) and Industrial Light & Magic (the “Star Wars” films, “Jurassic Park”). In addition, WETA created ERAGON’s climactic and massive battle scene, in which the forces of good, led by the young Dragon Rider Eragon and Saphira, battle the armies of the evil King Galbatorix.
For over two millennia, dragons have been – depending on the culture and times – beloved, feared, or even worshipped. Today, the mythical creatures are a mainstay of pop culture. ERAGON’s Saphira is inspired by the rich heritage of the storied winged creatures, but for the first time, the power of state-of-the-art computer generated imagery brings myth to photo-real, emotional life. What “Jurassic Park” was to dinosaurs, ERAGON is to dragons. Indeed, Saphira is a step beyond the dinosaurs of “Jurassic Park,” as her facial imagery conveys thoughts and feelings.
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.
THE CAST
For the filmmakers, the stakes couldn’t have been higher in casting their young Dragon Rider, Eragon. Newcomer Ed Speleers emerged from the months-long, worldwide casting search. “Ed came in [to the casting session], and we just looked at each other and said, ‘That’s Eragon, that’s the guy from the book,’” says director Stefen Fangmeier: “I got a strong sense of Ed’s sparkle, of his life. It’s the kind of thing where you just know he’s destined to become a movie star.”
Speleers won the role as he was trying to learn his lines for a school production of “Hamlet.” He couldn’t help but be awed by this, his professional acting debut. “During production in Slovakia, we were lifted by helicopter to the top of a large mountain surrounded by incredible scenery,” he remembers. “I stood at the edge of this mountain, thinking, ‘What’s going on here? I’m supposed to be at school taking my exams, and I’m here having the best time of my life.’ If I continue to make movies – which I would love to do – I don’t think I will ever get that same, overwhelming feeling.”
The young actor easily grew into the role. Indeed, Speleers sees parallels between his experiences making ERAGON and his on-screen character’s journey. “I was on a new adventure, just like Eragon was,” he explains. “I had a well-structured life, doing regular things, and then I was suddenly thrown into this incredible world, starring in a movie. It’s been a great time for me to find myself (as Eragon does in the story), meet new people, and have new experiences.”
A highlight of Speleers’ experiences on ERAGON was working opposite Jeremy Irons, who portrays Eragon’s mentor, Brom. The actors’ off-screen relationship mirrored what was happening on camera. “Jeremy always provided words of advice, and always nurtured me,” Speleers recalls. “He was doing so out of the kindness of his heart, but at the same time so much of Brom was in Jeremy.”
Irons says he was ready to tackle a big action-adventure picture. “ERAGON reaches an audience that I haven’t reached in a while,” he says. “Equally important, Brom appealed to me; he has a wryness and fierceness, but at the same time he’s a good man.”
To prepare for the role, Irons read Eragon, and trained in the method of swordplay Paolini describes in his book. “It’s a specific style of fighting,” Irons notes. “It’s like Eastern swordplay, and is more esoteric than English medieval styles. I practiced almost every day to build the wrist strength necessary to realistically play the fighting scenes.” The many riding scenes were less of a challenge to Irons, an experienced horseman.
Brom’s and Eragon’s fates are closely tied to the evil King Galbatorix, played by Oscar-nominee John Malkovich. Galbatorix is a central character in the film, one whose presence and menace are felt even when he’s offscreen.
Although Malkovich shares no scenes with Ed Speleers, the young actor and his growing following made a distinct impression on him. “Before leaving for Budapest, a friend of mine told me that he had a bunch of kids who wanted Ed’s autograph,” he recounts. “I hadn’t experienced anything like that since working with Leonardo DiCaprio [in “The Man in the Iron Mask”].
The chief “aide” to Malkovich’s Galbatorix is Durza, a sorcerer possessed with demonic spirits. Durza is tall, handsome and pale, with red hair and maroon eyes. He is lordly in manner, but his refinement masks something unnatural.
BAFTA Award-winner Robert Carlyle, as Durza, made a strong impression on Ed Speleers. “Our first meeting was intense,” says Speleers. “Robert wore a long wig, contact lenses and full-flowing outfit. I didn’t need to get into character to react opposite Robert as Durza,” laughs Speleers. “He was Durza!”
“Robert came in very much wanting to do ERAGON, and his approach to Durza was to not make the character obvious and over-the-top in his villainy,” says Wyck Godfrey. “Durza has an agenda and with his red eyes and hair, and pale skin, there are things visually apparent about the character; you don’t need to work hard to force him to be evil.”
Early in the story, Durza uses his formidable powers to try and stop the female warrior Arya, who’s on a mission to find the next Dragon Rider. “Arya has been entrusted with a dragon egg stolen from Galbatorix, carrying it across Alagaësia looking for its owner,” says Sienna Guillory, who portrays Arya. “Her warrior side uses a Zen-like fighting style. Because she’s an elf, she understands nature – the trees, light and wind – and is capable of seeing danger before it happens.
“It’s great to play a female action role that’s not all ‘hero’ and that’s not rough and unfeminine,” she continues. “I love horses and this was a film where I got to ride a horse and fight with a sword – brilliant!”
Guillory makes special note of the work of costume designer Kym Barrett, whom the actress says “brings a wonderful modernity and edge” to the picture. “Kym’s work reflects the timelessness of the film,” Guillory elaborates. “It’s not about being medieval or going back to another period in the past. Kym’s designs for Arya are about ecology and the environment. Arya is a kind of eco-warrior, who is in tune with nature. Everything she wears look and feels worn and soft. Kym really works amazingly well with movement.”
Arya and Eragon take a stand against Galbatorix, Durza, and their minions in the final battle of Farthen Dûr. This stronghold of the rebel Varden forces is led by Ajihad, played by Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou. “I was attracted to ERAGON because it is an enormous adventure,” the actor explains. “Everything about it is bigger than life.”
Also taking a stand at Farthen Dûr is Murtagh, played by Garrett Hedlund, one of the few Americans in the cast. Like several of his fellow castmates, Hedlund underwent intensive physical training, including boxing and working with a long bow. But Hedlund notes that it was what’s underneath the character’s skin that intrigued him. “There’s something about Murtagh that lies under the surface,” he explains. “Murtagh has a secret and a past he’s not necessarily proud of.”
SAPHIRA
ERAGON’s distinguished cast is impressive, but the filmmakers acknowledge the picture’s “biggest” – and most expensive – star is the dragon Saphira. Christopher Paolini has said that he wanted Saphira to be “the best friend anyone could have.” In order to pull off such a character, the filmmakers realized they needed someone to completely “own” Saphira, both creatively and technically, and to serve as the point person between themselves and the facilities.
Visual Effects Supervisor Michael McAlister became that person and served, among other things, as the arbiter of the dragon. “Bringing Saphira to life was a huge undertaking that required my full attention and energies – much as a live action character requires the full attention of an actor,” says McAlister. “There were thousands and thousands of specific decisions to be made in terms of how she would look, how she would act, how she would feel, and how she would fly. I did not invent her nor decide what her character would be, but I was responsible for understanding her – inside and out – and deciding specifically how we would achieve her.”
Constant communication between the filmmakers and visual effects facilities was the key, and McAlister likened himself to the skinny part of an hourglass. “With a hopper of desire above me and an army of eager and talented artists below, I took the broad desires of the filmmakers and focused them into instructions the others could act on. A major part of my job was to make specific decisions regarding Saphira, and keep those decisions clear to all parties so that the efforts of the hundreds of artists were in constant alignment with the desires of the filmmakers.”
Under McAlister’s supervision, the artists and technicians at the renowned visual effects houses Industrial Light & Magic and WETA Digital, have created nothing less than the most dynamic, expressive dragon in motion picture history.
Samir Hoon was the ILM visual effects supervisor and Glen McIntosh was ILM’s animation director. McIntosh, who helped create the performances for Yoda and General Grievous in “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” coordinated the team of ILM animators. “The tricky part in creating the performance was that Saphira was never meant to be a monster or creature,” notes McIntosh. “She is a character and one of the stars of the movie. She delivers a nuanced, layered performance.”
WETA Digital animation supervisior David Clayton, working with WETA visual effects supervisors George Murphy and Guy Williams, made additional character refinements, especially for the climactic battle scene in which Saphira becomes like a sleek and powerful jet fighter.
Saphira’s complexity of character and design stemmed from an “evolutionary” process – from the stylized artwork that adorned the book’s cover to the first movie character sketches to the final imagery we see on film. “The big question we faced,” says ILM’s Samir Hoon, “was, ‘How do we make a dragon that the audience has never before seen and still be consistent with Christopher Paolini’s vision of the character?’
Saphira’s design evolved as we discovered the character through the color of her wings, the size of her head, and the length of her neck. We see her emerge from the egg as being ten-inches tall. By the end of the film, she stands fifteen feet, with a wing span of 20-30 feet, length of 32 feet – and weighing about four tons.”
After many renderings and tests, the visual effects artists gave Saphira a slim, graceful look, adhering to the character’s feminine and regal qualities. “She moves and walks like a lion, with front legs almost equal in length to her back legs,” says McIntosh, who notes that he and the ILM animators spent time studying lion movement.
The design of Saphira’s wings evolved into that resembling eagle wings. But instead of the more classic look of feathers, Saphira’s wings are a combination of scales and feathers, which the ILM team dubbed “scethers.”
Saphira begins life as a hatchling, which the filmmakers endeavored to make as endearing as possible. To that end, Hoon and his team studied wildebeest cubs, lion cubs, and wolf cubs.
THE BATTLE OF FARTHEN DÛR
ERAGON has many grand set pieces, but none as big as The Battle of Farthen Dûr, where Urgals and Galbatorix’s elite army attack the Varden stronghold. The battle marks the end of Eragon’s journey and the climax of the story.
As the battle opens, Eragon and Saphira are helping fight off the king’s invading troops – leading to an aerial battle between Eragon and Durza, with Eragon atop Saphira, and Durza riding an enormous beast conjured from the dead soldiers on the ground below. The ground battle, involving hundreds of extras and stunt people captured on film during principal photography, as well as the CG extensions added during post-production, provides a backdrop for the aerial conflict – all under a dramatic moonlit sky. As the massive conflict unfolds, Farthen Dûr becomes nothing less than a vast theater of destruction.
As described in the story, the Varden stronghold is constructed in the crater of an extinct volcano. Against the cliff face are the remnants of an eroded white marble city, stoic ruins of a time past, built into the volcano wall, stretching and twisting a mile high.
Under the supervision of production designer Wolf Kroeger, the filmmakers built one of the biggest practical sets in motion picture history. The set was too spectacular to erect on a soundstage, so the production, after conducting several scouting expeditions, found an abandoned rock quarry and crater at a volcano in Hungary, near the Austria border. “That location worked out very well,” says Kroeger, since it’s written in the script that Farthen Dûr is in a volcanic area.”
Before construction could begin on this massive set, the filmmakers had to build an access road to get to the top of the crater. It took 16 weeks of planning, building and landscaping to create the set from an empty quarry into a lived-in community.
Peter MacDonald, one of the industry’s top second unit directors and action specialists – he worked on two “Superman” films, two “Batman” pictures and four “Harry Potter” blockbusters – collaborated with Stefen Fangmeier to bring the epic battle to life. “We wanted to give the sequence an edgy, combat-like feel,” notes MacDonald, a director in his own right.
To capture the action, MacDonald worked with 450 extras and stunt people, 10 hours each night – often during frigid conditions (it was winter) – for several weeks. The sequence involves Urgals (who are uncommonly tall) and elves; many of the “Urgal” extras were 6’6” or taller, with those playing elves 5’0” or less.
The decision to shoot at night presented challenges to director of photography Hugh Johnson. “The location was a vast area with terraces and it was very difficult to get any lights up there,” says Johnson, whose department went to elaborate lengths to rig the volcanic crater’s vast and treacherous spaces – employing a team of Russian mountaineers to haul the equipment.
For this sequence, Kym Barrett designed non-traditional costumes, this time of “armor.” “I thought of what armor would be like in this particular world,” says Barrett. “In this scene, Eragon rides Saphira and fights the invading forces, and he couldn’t be lugging around 25 pounds of armor plating. I also didn’t want the characters to look like they were wearing big, clunky suits of armor. I wanted it to be more streamlined, so I used leather for the armor.” Barrett called in noted London couture leather makers to manufacture the unique pieces.
The completion of the second unit work in Hungary marked only the first step in the scene’s creation. Fangmeier, MacDonald and crew then moved to Pinewood Studios in England, where they shot blue screen work of Ed Speleers “riding” Saphira, battling Robert Carlyle’s Durza who is astride his own flying Beast. The filmmakers wanted to push these flying scenes to get, as MacDonald says, “the most dynamic sensation possible. It’s a real roller-coaster ride.”
The actors were placed on computer-controlled rigs on hydraulics, upon which saddles were mounted. All the dragon’s movements – flying, gliding, banks-and-turns – could be experienced by Ed Speleers as Eragon. “Ed was a natural,” says MacDonald. “He loved flying, and really wanted to get things right.” Before Speleers began work on the motion rig, the filmmakers screened for him the pre-visualization footage as a reference for his “flying” maneuvers.
“ERAGON is the first film to really show the experience of flying on a dragon,” says Fangmeier. “It was a lot of fun to create the flying sequences. We were challenged to maintain a physical reality but also have an element of the fantastical. We wanted dragon riding to feel like being on a jet fighter – with lots of ‘Wow’ moments.”
Many of these “wow” moments were realized by New Zealand-based visual effects house WETA Digital, whose many credits include the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong” and “I, Robot.” For the climactic Battle of Farthen Dûr sequence, WETA worked on giving Saphira a more aggressive “performance.” “She’s taking on a more mature air at this point; she’s come of age,” says WETA visual effects supervisor George Murphy. “We gave Saphira an additional sense of command, presence and agility that would get her through the battle.”
“We developed Saphira in a physical way,” adds WETA visual effects supervisor Guy Williams. “We have lots of views of her wings that occur during the battle, which are different from those of other scenes.” Williams and Murphy also made the dragon combat-ready, with an impressive suit of armor.
In creating the lighting environments for the battle sequence, Williams and Murphy’s goal, again, was to have audiences connect with Saphira, as they would with the film’s human characters. They devised a realistic yet striking look for shots of her soaring majestically through the night – or conducting “strafing runs” on the enemy forces. “If we had relied only on light that was available, we’d have ended up with a couple of highlights of Saphira from the moon and that’s about it,” notes Murphy. “So we came up with a color palette and levels that render Saphira visible, while reinforcing the fact that this is happening at night.”
Murphy and Williams also created the fearsome creature that Durza conjures up out of the essence of the dead troops below. The Beast battles Saphira in an epic airborne duel. As described in the script, the conjured creature is a methodical killing machine bereft of fear or remorse. It is an enormous, dark, broiling cloud of smoke and ash – the face of death itself.
“Durza’s Beast provides a sharp physical contrast to Saphira’s naturalistic look,” says Williams. “The beast is a completely task-built creature – a flying mouth of teeth, oversized head and teeth, and no legs. If you combined a large tarantula with a bat, then added a bull’s head with vampire teeth, you’d have the Beast.”
“The character’s design came quickly,” adds Murphy, “but developing the technology to render it was a challenge due to the inherent difficulties in ‘choreographing’ smoke, and action amongst the smoke.”
WETA created effects extensions for the practical Hungary sets for the battle. “We had to master the exact terrain of the practical set so that we could match into portions of the live-action footage,” says Williams. “All our action biases more towards one side of the volcano, which is visually more interesting because we’re closer to the volcano walls and get an enhanced sense of Saphira’s flying speed.”
WETA worked on another big action sequence that combines spectacle with emotion, further exploring the connection between Eragon and Saphira, and a moving act of personal sacrifice. “We get to explore Saphira’s softer, gentler side in this scene,” says Williams. “We pushed and refined her facial animation, keeping her movements very subtle, and letting the moments work for themselves.”
In a magical moment that propels the character and story forward, WETA created a sequence in which Saphira undergoes a metamorphosis from adolescence to adulthood.
The visual effects from WETA and ILM, along with the exotic and rugged locations in Hungary and Slovakia, created the illusion of Alagaësia. ERAGON was one of the biggest productions ever to be filmed in Hungary and Slovakia.
The production crew of over-500 was headquartered in the historic city of Budapest. The set for Garrow’s Farm, where Eragon lived with his Uncle Garrow and cousin Roran, was built on privately owned land in a valley at Budakesi, a forty-five minute drive from Budapest.
The production constructed Galbatorix’s lair in a hillside cave, with access available only through a hole in the cave’s roof. Special cranes were used to move equipment – including cameras, sound recorders and set dressing – into the cave. Once inside the cave, the filmmakers’ activities were limited due to the area’s status as a national monument. Later, the mountains of Slovakia would provide a number of natural settings with spectacular views across valleys, gorges and waterfalls.
These worlds and characters created by these locations, effects artists, technicians, craftsmen, filmmakers and actors stem from the imagination of Christopher Paolini, whose novel is linked to the film in an unexpected way. "I originally conceived ERAGON as a movie,” he points out. “I saw the characters and action clearly in my mind. But since I didn't have the money to produce a film, I ended up writing the story as a book.”
At the time, it was beyond Paolini’s wildest dreams that a major studio would adapt his epic tale. But then, Paolini’s own life story, his imagination – and the journey of his heroic title character – remind us that no dream is too big.
ERAGON CHARACTER PROFILES
ERAGON
Eragon discovers his true path as one of the fabled Dragon Riders. With his own dragon, Saphira, and Brom as his mentor, Eragon is determined to bring back the golden age of justice once known throughout the land – if he can survive the evil machinations of Galbatorix. Eragon becomes a true hero – and the last hope for the people of Alagëisia.
BROM
One of the last of the Dragon Riders, Brom has been a disconsolate, broken man since the death of his own dragon. He has become a storyteller resigned to the rule of the evil king, but he has new hope as the mentor and father-figure to Eragon.
GALBATORIX
Galbatorix is the ruler of an enormous empire that occupies the western part of Alagaësia. The former Dragon Rider brought about the demise of the storied order, and he now rules the land with an iron fist, stopping at nothing to capture or destroy Eragon and his dragon. Galbatorix’s forces include the loathsome and brutish Urgals, whose faces are grotesquely patterned with scars.
DURZA
Durza is a Shade, a sorcerer possessed by demonic spirits. Considered one of the most powerful beings in Alagëisia, he can only be killed through the heart. As one of Galbatorix’s deadliest minions, the sorcerer is privy to palace intrigues (and possibly has dreams of power of his own).
AJIHAD
Ajihad is the leader and general of the rebel Varden. In the secret stronghold of Farthen Dûr, located in a volcanic crater in the Beor Mountains, Ajihad and the Varden plot to overthrow Galbatorix.
ARYA
As the guardian of the dragon egg, the beautiful warrior Arya is willing to die to protect the line of dragons. She joins Eragon, Saphira, and the rebellious Varden in a desperate stand against the forces of Galbatorix.
MURTAGH
Murtagh is the son of Morzan, who betrayed the Dragon Riders to Galbatorix. Desperate to expunge the guilt of his father’s sin, Murtagh seeks refuge in battle, fighting for the forces of good.
SAPHIRA
The story’s most fantastical character is the flying dragon Saphira, who connects telepathically with her Rider, Eragon. As Saphira soars majestically through the sky – or conducts “strafing runs” on enemy forces – audiences will experience the most dynamic, fierce dragon ever, in the ultimate dragon movie.
ERAGON: GLOSSARY
Alagaësia: a kingdom stretching from the western coastal wilderness of the Spine into the inland Hadarac desert, which spreads to the southern summits of the Beor Mountains. It is a world of humans, sorcerers, monsters – and mighty dragons.
The Ancient Language: a form of communication that enables certain people to use magic.
Beor Mountains: a huge mountain range in the southeast of Alagaësia, where the Varden make their home.
Carvahall: Eragon’s hometown; a small town near the Spine.
Dragon Riders: those who help maintain peace in Alagaësia with the help of their dragons.
Gil’ead: a heavily guarded city where Arya is imprisoned by Durza.
Ra’zac: demonic mercenaries that serve Durza.
Shade: a sorcerer possessed by evil spirits.
Spine, The: Vast mountain range covering almost all of Alagaësia’s west coast.
Urgals: loathsome and brutish troops who serve Galbatorix. Their faces are grotesquely patterned with scars.
Varden: a group of rebels based in Farthen Dûr.
Zar'roc: Eragon's sword, given to him by Brom.
ABOUT THE CAST
ED SPELEERS (Eragon), 18, won the title role of ERAGON 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.
Speleers, who hails from South England, landed the part following a half-hour audition – and only days before the start of principal photography.
Previously, he had appeared in amateur school productions. Speleers has completed his schooling, and is looking forward to continuing his acting career.
JEREMY IRONS (Brom) began his career in England in theatre at the Bristol Old Vic and then debuted in London in Godspell as John the Baptist. His work in the West End and at Stratford Upon Avon culminated with his performance of “Richard II” for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing” opposite Glenn Close, for which he won both the Drama League Award and Tony® Award for Best Actor.
Irons has played many roles for television, most notably “Love for Lydia” and Paolini Hampton’s “Tales from Hollywood.” His performance in “Brideshead Revisited” brought him worldwide acclaim and nominations for an Emmy® Award, the British Academy and he received a Golden Globe® Award for Best Actor. In 1996, he directed and co-starred with his wife, actress Sinead Cusack in “Mirad, A Boy from Bosnia,” a Channel 4 Television film about refugees, written by Ad De Bont. In 1997 Irons won an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over for: "The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century.” In 2006 Irons co-starred with Helen Mirren in HBO’s Elizabeth I. Irons portrayal as the Earl of Leicester won him the Emmy for best supporting actor in a miniseries.
On the big screen he has starred in such films as Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Moonlighting,” Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” Volker Schlondorff’s “Swann in Love” and “The Mission” with Robert De Niro. Irons played opposite Meryl Streep in “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” for which he received the Variety Club Award for Best Actor and a BAFTA nomination, and opposite his son Sam in Roald Dahl’s “Danny, Champion of the World.” His performance in David Cronenberg’s “Dead Ringers” brought him a Best Actor Award from the New York Film Critics Circle and a Canadian Genie. Irons starred again with Glenn Close in the film based on the re-trial of Claus von Bulow, “Reversal of Fortune.” For this performance, Irons received the 1990 Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
Irons went on to work in such films as Steven Soderbergh’s “Kafka,” David Cronenberg’s “M. Butterfly” and Bille August’s “The House of the Spirits,” with Streep and Close again. In 1994, Irons created the voice of Scar for Disney’s “The Lion King.” He followed that with the action film “Die Hard with a Vengeance” also starring Bruce Willis, and Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Stealing Beauty,” also starring Liv Tyler.
Irons more recent films include Wayne Wang’s “Chinese Box,” and “The Man in the Iron Mask,” in which he starred with Gerard Depardieu, Leonardo DiCaprio, and John Malkovich. He played Humbert Humbert in Adrian Lyne’s controversial film “Lolita” and starred in “Longitude,” an A&E Granada film that premiered on BBC. Irons had four films in 2001, including “And Now…Ladies and Gentleman,” directed by Claude Lelouch, “The Time Machine,” based on the H.G. Wells novel, “Callas Forever,” directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and “Last Call,” a Showtime Original Picture directed by Henry Bromell, also starring Neve Campbell.
He also starred in István Szabó’s “Being Julia” with Annette Bening. In late 2004 Irons played Antonio, in Michael Radford’s production of Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” also starring Al Pacino. In spring 2005 Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven” was released, in which Irons starred opposite Orlando Bloom. In Lasse Hallström’s “Casanova,” released Christmas 2005, Irons starred opposite Heath Ledger. Irons recently completed the upcoming feature “Inland Empire,” directed by David Lynch.
In 2003 Irons returned to his roots in theatre and debuted in the New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” in the role of Frederik, directed by Scott Ellis. Irons played King Arthur in the Hollywood Bowl’s summer presentation of “Camelot,” part of the Hollywood Bowl’s weekend spectacular series. In February 2006 Irons starred as Henrik in “Embers,” a play by Paolini Hampton, directed by Michael Blakemore.
SIENNA GUILLORY (Arya) is best known to American audiences for her work in the acclaimed miniseries “Helen of Troy,” in which she played the title role. She has starred in the film “Resident Evil: Apocalyspe,” “The Time Machine,” and a featured role in “Love, Actually.”
After appearing on the British miniseries “The Buccanneers,” and several independent films, Guillory got her big break when she won the starring role in the BBC adaptation of Kingsley Amis' “Take a Girl Like You.” Guillory has since starred on London's West End in Neil La Bute's “The Shape of Things” and continued to work with independent U.K-based filmmakers on productions such as “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” “Late Night Shopping,” “The Principles of Lust” and “Silence Becomes You.”
She recently starred opposite Academy Award nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno in the Spanish independent film “Hearts of the Earth.”
ROBERT CARLYLE (Durza) was born in Glasgow, Scotland and enrolled in acting classes at the Glasgow Arts Centre after reading Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.”
Following his movie debut as Big Woodsy in “Silent Scream” (1990), Carlyle appeared in several films, but it was his performance in the title role of the TV series “Hamish Macbeth” (1995) that brought him to the attention of British audiences. And it was the role of Begbie in “Trainspotting” (1996) that introduced him to American audiences. This was followed by his BAFTA-winning role of Gaz in “The Full Monty” (1997).
After playing Plunkett in “Plunkett & Macleane” and Col. Ives in “Ravenous” (both 1999), he played the villain, Renard, in the James Bond adventure “The World Is Not Enough” (1999), followed by the roles of Malachy in “Angela’s Ashes” (1999) and Daffy in “The Beach” (2000).
More recently, he has been seen in “There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble” (2000), “To End All Wars,” “The 51st State” (both 2001), “Once Upon a Time in the Midlands,” “Black and White” (both 2002), “Dead Fish” (2004), “Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School” and “The Mighty Celt” (both 2005).
His recent TV appearances have been the title role in “Hitler: The Rise of Evil” (2003) and King James 1 in “Gunpowder, Treason and Plot” (2004). He portrayed the role of Sergei Karpovich in the TV miniseries “Human Trafficking” (2005).
Carlyle founded the Raindog theatre company in 1991, together with four other actors, and is a partner in the British film production company 4 Ways. He was awarded an OBE in the 1999 New Year’s Honours List.
DJIMON HOUNSOU (Ajihad) was born in Benin, Africa. At age 13, he moved to Paris, where he was discovered by French fashion designer Thierry Mugler and subsequently graced the catwalks of Paris and London as a popular male model.
After making his movie debut in “Without You I’m Nothing” (1990), Hounsou appeared in “Unlawful Entry” (1992), “Stargate” (1994) and “The Small Hours” (1997) before playing the role of Cinque in “Amistad” (1997), a performance that brought him to the attention of international audiences. He went on to appear in “Ill Gotten Gains” (1997) and “Deep Rising” (1998).
He then played the role of Juba in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” (2000) before appearing in “Passage du Milieu” (2000), “The Tag” (2001), “Le Boulet” and “The Four Feathers” (both 2002). His performance as Mateo in “In America” (2002) brought him an Academy Award nomination.
He went on to play leading roles in “Heroes” (2001), “Biker Boys,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life” (both 2003), “Blueberry” (2004), “Constantine,” “Beauty Shop” and “The Island” (all 2005). He has a starring role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the drama “Blood Diamond,” directed by Edward Zwick.
GARRETT HEDLUND (Murtagh) was born in Roseau, Minnesota, and spent his early years growing up on a farm. When his family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, he began taking private acting lessons. After graduating high school, Hedlund moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
One month later he landed the role of Achilles’ cousin Patroclus in the movie “Troy” (2004) opposite Brad Pitt. His next feature was “Friday Night Lights” (2004) in which Hedlund played a high school football player.
He then landed a starring role opposite Mark Wahlberg in “Four Brothers” (2005), playing one of four brothers whose mother is murdered.
Academy Award-winning actress RACHEL WEISZ (voice of Saphira) is known for portraying women of incredible spirit and intelligence and continues to seek out challenging projects and roles both on screen and on stage.
Weisz received overwhelming critical praise and awards from Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and ultimately an Oscar for her performance in "The Constant Gardener," directed by Fernando Meirelles ("City of God") and based on the best-selling John le Carré novel.
Weisz currently stars in Darren Aronofsky's much-anticipated sci-fi/romantic fantasy adventure, "The Fountain," opposite Hugh Jackman.
She recently wrapped production on "My Blueberry Nights" directed by Wong Kar Wei. The romantic comedy also stars Jude Law, Norah Jones and Natalie Portman and is the story of a young woman (Jones) who travels across America to find the true meaning of love while encountering offbeat characters along the way.
Weisz is currently shooting Working Title's comedy "Definitely, Maybe," written and directed by Adam Brooks. Weisz will begin filming the dramedy "Smart People," written by Mark Poirier, this fall starring opposite Dennis Quaid and Thomas Haden Church. Noam Murro, 2005 DGA Director of the Year, will make his feature directorial debut. Later in the year Weisz is also set to star in the international con man adventure "The Brothers Bloom," written and directed by Rian Johnson
Past film credits include Francis Lawrence's hit thriller Constantine, Gary Fleder's "Runaway Jury"; James Foley's "Confidence"; and Chris and Paul Weitz' "About a Boy." She is known to audiences worldwide for her lead role opposite Brendan Fraser in Stephen Sommers' blockbuster movies "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns." Weisz also starred in Jean-Jacques Annaud's "Enemy at the Gates"; Michael Winterbottom's "I Want You"; David Leland's "The Land Girls"; Beeban Kidron's "Swept from the Sea"; and Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty."
Weisz received critical acclaim for Focus Features "The Shape of Things" which also marked her first venture into producing. She had previously starred in writer/director Neil LaBute's staging of his original play of the same name, in both London and New York City.
Her performance in Sean Mathias' U.K. staging of "Noel Coward's Design for Living" garnered her the London Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Newcomer. She also starred in the West End production of "Suddenly Last Summer", directed by Mathias. Weisz began her career as a student at Cambridge University where she formed the Talking Tongues Theatre Group, which performed numerous experimental pieces and won the prestigious Guardian Award at the Edinburgh Festival.
JOHN MALKOVICH (King Galbatorix) joined Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 1976 and made his New York stage debut seven years later in “True West,” a performance that won him an Obie®. In 1984 he appeared with Dustin Hoffman in the Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman,” which earned him an Emmy when it was made into a TV movie the following year.
His movie debut was as the blind lodger in “Places in the Heart” (1984), a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Next came “The Killing Fields” (1984) and “The Glass Menagerie” (1987). After playing Vicomte de Valmont in the costume drama “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988), he was cast as the psychotic political assassin in Clint Eastwood’s film “In the Line of Fire” (1993), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe.
A prolific and versatile actor, Malkovich has appeared in a wide variety of roles in films such as “Mulholland Falls” (1996), “The Man in the Iron Mask” (1998), “Being John Malkovich” (1999), “Shadow of the Vampire” (2000), “Hotel” (2001), “Ripley’s Game,” The Dancer Upstairs,” “Hideous Man” (2002), “Johnny English” (2003), “The Libertine” (2004) and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (2005). Upcoming pictures include “The Great Buck Howard,” “The Mutant Chronicles,” “Gardens of the Night,” and “Beowulf,” the latter directed by Robert Zemeckis.
His most notable television appearances have been in “Heart of Darkness” (1994), “RKO 281” (1999), “Les Miserables” (2000) and “Napoleon” (2002).
In addition to his acting career, he wrote and directed “Hideous Man” (2002), directed and produced “The Dancer Upstairs” (2002) and produced “Ghost World” (2000), “The Loner” (2001), “Kill The Poor” (2003), “Found in the Street” (2004), “The Libertine” (2004), and he starred in and produced “Art School Confidential” (2006). He also produced “Some Assembly Required” (2004) for television.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
STEFEN FANGMEIER (Director) received a degree in Computer Science from the California State University of Dominguez Hills in 1983. He worked as a systems programmer and image processing analyst at Aerospace Corporation and scientific visualization project manager at the famed National Center for Supercomputing Application (NCSA) at the University of Illinois.
His first foray into the entertainment industry was when he joined Digital Production (co-founded by Gary Demos and John Whitney Jr. and most famous for their pioneering work on “The Last Starfighter”) in the mid 1980s where he worked in a division that provided computing services for businesses and the scientific community (to help during film and commercials down time).
When Digital Productions closed in 1987 after the Omnibus hostile takeover in 1986, he joined Mental Images, creators of the mental ray rendering engine, where he became Director of Production. At that time mental images had a production division that served and demonstrated the features of mental ray. During his tenure there he met future VFX Supervisors John Nelson (who would work at Imageworks and won the Oscar for “Gladiator”) and John Berton (who would also join him at ILM and last worked on “I, Robot”).
Fangmeier joined ILM in 1990 where his first major project was “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” as a CG shot supervisor. Other credits include such notable projects as “Hook,” “Casper” and “Jurassic Park.” His first project as VFX Supervisor was “Twister” for which he received an Oscar nomination and won the BAFTA. Other projects include “Small Soldiers,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Perfect Storm,” “Galaxy Quest,” “The Bourne Identity,” “Signs,” “Dreamcatcher” and “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
His last project at ILM was “Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.” He won a BAFTA for “Saving Private Ryan,” was nominated for an Oscar and won a BAFTA for “The Perfect Storm” and was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA and VES Award for “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” He has also served as Second Unit Director on “Galaxy Quest” and “Dreamcatcher.”
JOHN DAVIS (Producer) is chairman of Davis Entertainment, a motion picture and television production company that, over the last ten years, has produced more than 50 movies and telefilms.
Davis currently is producing the sequel to “Alien vs. Predator,” having produced the original box-office hit in 2004. Recently, he produced the features “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties” (the follow-up to the box-office hit “Garfield,” also produced by Davis) and the thriller “When a Stranger Calls,” which took the number-one slot its opening weekend. Upcoming are the comedies “The Heartbreak Kid,” starring Ben Stiller, directed by the Farrelly Brothers, and “Norbit,” toplining Eddie Murphy.
Earlier, Davis produced “Flight of the Phoenix,” an action-adventure starring Dennis Quaid; “Fat Albert,” based on Bill Cosby’s phenomenally popular character; “First Daughter,” starring Katie Holmes; the blockbuster sci fi thriller “I, Robot” and the John Woo-helmed thriller “Paycheck,” starring Ben Affleck.
Davis’ other recent feature releases include “Daddy Day Care,” starring Eddie Murphy, “Life or Something Like It” starring Angelina Jolie and the action hit “Behind Enemy Lines” with Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman. The Davis-produced comedy “Dr. Dolittle 2,” starring Eddie Murphy, grossed more than $113 million domestically, and “Heartbreakers” starring Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman and Jennifer Love Hewitt, opened as the number one film in the country.
For television, Davis produced the made-for-television movies “The Jesse Ventura Story” and “Little Richard,” as well as the ABC telefilm “Miracle at Midnight” starring Sam Waterston. He also produced the highly rated NBC mini-series “Asteroid,” the network movies “Volcano: Fire on the Mountain,” “One Christmas” and “This Can’t Be Love,” as well as the cable movies “Tears and Laughter,” “The Last Outlaw,” “Silhouette,” “Voyage,” “Irresistible Force,” “Wild Card,” “Dangerous Passion,” “Curiosity Kills” and “Caught in the Act.”
Among Davis’ other major theatrical features are “Dr. Dolittle” with Eddie Murphy, “Out to Sea” starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, the blockbuster adaptation of John Grisham’s “The Firm” with Tom Cruise, the comedies “Grumpy Old Men” and “Grumpier Old Men,” “Courage Under Fire” starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan, Grisham’s “The Chamber,” “Daylight” starring Sylvester Stallone, “Waterworld” with Kevin Costner and “Richie Rich.” Other movies he has produced include “Predator,” “Predator 2,” “The Thing Called Love,” “Fortress,” “Gunmen,” “Storyville,” “Shattered,” “Little Monsters,” “The Last of the Finest,” “License to Drive,” “Three O’clock High” and “The Hunted.”
Davis is a graduate of Bowdoin College, attended Amherst College and received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
WYCK GODFREY (Producer) is a partner/producer, with Marty Bowen, in Temple Hill Entertainment. He is a producer on The Nativity Story,” for New Line Cinema.
Godfrey was a producer on “Flight of the Phoenix,” “First Daughter,” “Daddy Day Care” as well as serving as an executive producer on “I, Robot,” “Alien vs. Predator” and “Behind Enemy Lines.”
Godfrey began his career as a creative executive at New Line Cinema after graduating from Princeton University in 1990 with a degree in English. In 1995, he switched to Horizon Pictures as senior vice president of production before joining Davis Entertainment two years later, where he served as president for the past four years.
PETER BUCHMAN (Screenwriter) recently wrote two screenplays on the life of Che Guevara for Steven Soderbergh to direct and Benicio del Toro to star. Those movies will begin production in April, 2007. Buchman also recently adapted The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, into a screenplay for Focus. Currently, he is working on a remake of “Capricorn One,” with director David Dobkin.
Since he began earning his living as a screenwriter, Buchman has worked with such directors as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Sydney Pollack, and David O. Russell. He is a credited writer on “Jurassic Park III.”
CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI (Author) was born on November 17, 1983 in Southern California. Aside from a few years in Anchorage, Alaska, he spent his entire life in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he still lives with his parents and younger sister, Angela. They have two pets, Otis, a black and white cat, and Annie, a frisky cocker/Australian shepherd mix.
Tall, jagged Beartooth Mountains rise on one side of the Paradise Valley. Snowcapped most of the year, they inspired the fantastic scenery in Eragon. A few years ago, Paolini hiked to the top of one peak and could see the Grand Teton mountain range, 100 miles to the south.
Paolini was homeschooled by his parents. He often wrote short stories and poems in an attempt to put his thoughts into words. He made frequent trips to the library and read widely. Some of his favorite books were Bruce Coville's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, Frank Herbert's Dune, Raymond E. Feist's Magician, and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, as well as books by Anne McCaffrey, Jane Yolen, Brian Jacques, E. R. Eddison, David Eddings, and Ursula Le Guin.
Paolini grew up listening to a variety of music, but classical music fired his imagination and helped him write. He often listened to Mahler, Beethoven, and Wagner while writing Eragon. The final battle of Eragon was written while listening to “Carmina Burana,” by Carl Orff.
The story of Eragon began as the daydreams of a teen. Paolini's love for the magic of stories led him to craft a novel that he would enjoy reading. The project began as a hobby; he never intended to be published. He took a month to plot out the entire trilogy, then sat on the sofa and began writing in a notebook. When he reached sixty pages, he gained enough confidence to transfer his work to his Macintosh computer, where most of Eragon was written, although he sometimes found that the story flowed better when he wrote by hand. All the characters in Eragon are from Paolini's imagination except Angela the herbalist, who is loosely based on his sister.
It took him a year to write the first draft of Eragon. He took a second year to revise the book and then gave it to his parents to read. The family decided to self-publish the book and so a third year was spent with another round of edits, designing a cover, typesetting the manuscript, and creating marketing materials. During this time Paolini drew the map for Eragon, as well as the dragon eye that appears inside the hardcover edition. Finally, the manuscript was sent to press, and the first books arrived.
The Paolini family spent the next year promoting the book themselves. Beginning with presentations at the local library and high school, they then traveled across the U.S. In all, Paolini gave over 135 presentations at libraries, bookstores, and schools in 2002 and early 2003. He did most of the presentations dressed in a medieval costume of red shirt, billowy black pants, lace-up boots, and a jaunty black cap.
In summer 2002, author Carl Hiaasen, whose stepson had bought and devoured a copy of the self-published book while on vacation in Montana, brought Eragon to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, who subsequently acquired the rights to publish Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance trilogy. Knopf published Eragon in August 2003 and Eldest, Book Two in Inheritance, in August 2005. Eragon, which has been published in 41 countries, has been a #1 bestseller in both its Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers hardcover and paperback editions and has spent 164 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Eldest hit the marketplace in August 2005 as one of the most anticipated books of the fall season, and its first week on sale achieved the biggest single-week sale in Random House Children’s Books history. Currently in its 15th printing, Eldest, also a #1 bestseller, has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 60 weeks, and has been published in 41 countries. Most recently, Eldest won a 2006 Quill Award. Together, Eragon and Eldest have sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.
Paolini is currently writing Book Three in Inheritance, the title of which has not yet been announced. Once the trilogy is completed, Paolini plans to take a long vacation, when he will ponder which of his many story ideas he will write next.
GIL NETTER (Executive Producer) has also produced the features “A Walk in the Clouds,” “High School High,” “BASEketball,” “Dude, Where’s My Car?” “Phone Booth,” “My Boss’s Daughter,” the Farrelly Brothers comedy “Fever Pitch,” and “Flicka.”
Netter served as executive producer on the films “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear,” “My Life,” “The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult,” “First Knight,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “Unconditional Love.”
CHRIS SYMES (Executive Producer) was co-producer on “AVP,” “Resident Evil,” and on the romantic comedy “The Match.” He was a producer on the 20th Century Fox Television mystery thriller film “The Sight.”
HUGH JOHNSON (Director of Photography), like many great cameramen before him, began his career in commercials, working with such directors as Alan Parker Hugh Hudson, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Adrian Lyne.
Moving into the movie industry, he had an additional photography credit on Tony Scott’s “The Hunger” (1983), and then progressed to second unit director for “1492: Conquest of Paradise” (1992), the first of four films with director Ridley Scott. He was the director of photography for Scott’s “White Squall” (1996), followed by director of photography and second unit director on “G.I. Jane” (1997). For “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005), he was second unit director and director of photography. In between, he worked as director of photography on David Twohy’s “The Chronicles of Riddick” (2004).
WOLF KROEGER (Production Designer), before attaining the position of production designer, worked as art director on such films as “U-Turn” (1973), “Breaking Point” (1976), “In Praise of Older Women” (1978) and “Quintet” (1979).
He became a production designer on “Popeye” (1980), followed by “Rambo: First Blood, Part 2” (1982), “Split Image” (1982) and “Streamers” (1983), “Streamers” (1983), “The Bad Boy” (1984), “Ladyhawke” (1985), “Year of the Dragon” (1985) and “The Sicilian” (1987).
After designing the sets for Mario Puzo’s TV miniseries “The Fortunate Pilgrim” (1988), he went on to design “Let It Ride” (1989), “Casualties of War” (1989), “We’re No Angels” (1989), “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992), “Shadow of the Wolf” (1992) and “The Three Musketeers” (1993).
In the past decade Kroeger designed “The Edge” (1997), “The 13th Warrior” (1999), “Enemy at the Gates” (2001), “Reign of Fire” (2002), “Equilibrium” (2002), “Beyond Borders” (2003) and “Racing Stripes” (2005).
He was also visual consultant on “Highlander III: The Sorcerer” (1994) and “Cousin Bette” (1998).
ROGER BARTON (Co-Producer, Film Editor) began his career editing television features such as “Love, Honor and Obey” for CBS, “Not Without My Children” for ABC, and “Indictment: The McMartin Trial” for HBO, which won an Emmy for Best Achievement in Editing.
He then went on to features, editing “That Darn Cart,” and more recently, “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” “The Amityville Horror,” “Bad Boys 2,” “Ghost Ship,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” He was an associate editor on “Titanic,” which won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Film Editing.
KYM BARRETT (Costume Designer) was born in Brisbane and attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney before entering the movie industry in the costume department.
After working as a wardrobe assistant on “Strictly Ballroom” (1992), Barrett moved to Los Angeles where she became recognized for her individuality. Her big break came when she designed the costumes for “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” (1996). Barrett’s reputation was further enhanced with “The Matrix” (1999), her work winning her a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination. She went on to work on “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003) and “The Matrix Revolutions” (2003).
Her other credits include “Three Kings” (1999), “Red Planet” (2000), “Titan A.E.” (2000), “From Hell” (2001), “Gothika” (2003) and “The Virgin of Juarez” (2005). More recently, Barrett designed the costumes for “Monster-in-Law” (2005), starring Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez, and “Rumour Has It” (2006).
PATRICK DOYLE (Music) has a prolific career as a highly respected composer on a number of films and was awarded Best Score for “A Little Princess” by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 1995.
Doyle’s most recent film credits include “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Man to Man,” “Nanny McPhee,” “Secondhand Lions” and “Calendar Girls.” Doyle’s other high profile credits include “Killing Me Softly,” “Gosford Park,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Blow Dry,” Love’s Labour’s Lost,” “Great Expectations” and Mike Newell’s “Donnie Brasco.”
After graduating the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Doyle composed music scores for television including Scottish television’s “Charlie Endell” and the BBC’s “The Butterfly Hoof.”
In 1987, Doyle joined Kenneth Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company after he was commissioned to write the music for the televised version of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”
In 1989 he was asked to write the score for Branagh’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” which began his career in film scoring. He then wrote the music for other productions including “Hamlet,” “As You Like It,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “King Lear” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
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