Hulu has decided it won't move forward with Seth Grahame-Smith's television series adaptation of Stephen King's fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon. According to Grahame-Smith, Hulu's decision to cancel the project was due to budgetary concerns and changes to the executive team that occurred behind the scenes.
Published in 1984, The Eyes of a Dragon was considered to be a notable deviation from the horror genre for King and was developed after the author wanted to write something his children could read. Set in the fictional realm of Delain, the novel centers on the lives of two prince brothers, Peter and Thomas, after their parents are killed. After the eldest brother Peter is framed and imprisoned for their murder, Thomas is crowned king at the age of twelve and grants a significant amount of power to Flagg, the magician who served his late father. However, Peter suspects Flagg is the one responsible for the death of his parents and attempts to escape from prison to prove his innocence.
Hulu first announced the development of a pilot episode for a television adaptation of The Eyes of the Dragon in 2019 with Grahame-Smith on board to pen the script and serve as both showrunner and executive producer. However, Grahame-Smith revealed to The Kingcast that the prospects for the Eyes of the Dragon adaptation began to look bleak when the Hulu executives who picked up the project were replaced. "There was a regime change at the worst possible moment at Hulu and, you know, when regime changes happen the incoming people, as great as they are, take a look around and don't necessarily want to inherit the projects of the people that just got replaced," Grahame-Smith explained.
Despite the changes to the executive team, Grahame-Smith noted that he believed they still had goodwill at Hulu due to the positive reception towards the script and the streamer's past success with Castle Rock. Unfortunately, the estimated cost of producing a single season and the terms of the deal they had with Hulu led to the cancelation of the project. Grahame-Smith said, "Basically to do this show the way that we were pitching it was gonna be upwards of $100 million a season or something like that and because it's a Stephen King property the deal that we had with Hulu was they couldn't just order a pilot and then decide. They had to either order a whole season and spend that $90-$100 million, whatever it was, or pass. And so, they passed."
As Grahame-Smith noted, Hulu's decision to pass on the Eyes of the Dragon series is disappointing as it would have offered audiences a different type of Stephen King adaptation. While previous adaptions of King's work, including director Andy Muschietti's IT, have been well received, they aren't exactly films or show the whole family can enjoy together.
Fortunately for the King fans, there are still a few adaptations of his works coming to the big screen and television. In December, a remake of King's The Stand will debut on CBS All Access.
The Stand will be available on CBS All Access on December 17th, 2020.
Source: The Kingcast