Eragon wouldn't have been made at all if it had not already had a built-in fan
base (mainly teenagers). It takes a special kind of orkish craft to take
a mediocre but popular fantasy novel, and adapt it into a film that even the
book's fans dislike ("No _dwarves_?")
Still, The Hobbit is different. It has been around for 70 years, is found
on many classroom reading lists, and is widely considered a classic of
children's literature. A director and screenwriter know that they tamper
with this at their
peril.
