Stephen King Fantasy Series ‘The Eyes of the Dragon’ No Longer Happening at Hulu

Back in 2019, we learned that Hulu was moving forward with an Eyes of the Dragon TV series, based on the Stephen King fantasy novel of the same name. Seth Grahame-Smith, who served as producer on the two It films, was set as showrunner, and the general consensus was that this was a chance for Hulu to have their own Game of Thrones-like series. Since the announcement, we’ve heard very little about the show – and there’s a good reason for that: it’s no longer happening.

While appearing on The Kingcast, Seth Grahame-Smith revealed that The Eyes of the Dragon TV series is officially dead on Hulu. According to Grahme-Smith, the show’s collapse was due to both budget and some behind-the-scenes changes of Hulu execs.

Published in 1984, The Eyes of the Dragon was a change of pace for Stephen King. Rather than dealing with very adult horror, the book is a fantasy tale of kings and dragons, and is aimed at a younger audience (King claimed it originated as a bedtime story for his kids).

The Eyes of the Dragon is set in the kingdom of Delan, and deals with two brothers, Peter and Thomas, sons of King Roland. Peter is the more well-liked of the boys, and, as the oldest, he’s also destined to inherit the throne. But the king’s evil magician, Flagg, comes up with a scheme where he manipulates the insecure Thomas. Flagg kills Roland and frames Peter for the crime, resulting in Peter being locked up in a tower and Thomas taking over as king – where he can then be manipulated by Flagg even more.

The book has direct connections to King’s Dark Tower series, and also The Stand – the Flagg here is the same Flagg that pops-up in that apocalyptic tale. Had the Hulu series gone foward, Grahame-Smith says the plan was for the first season to adapt the entire book, and then for subsequent seasons to continue the story.

In the same interview, Grahame-Smith talks about wanting Sam Rockwell to play Flagg, and also reaching out to Alan Cumming to narrate the series. But now none of that will happen. Whether or not someone else comes along now to scoop up the rights and adapt this into a TV series is anyone’s guess. Back when Game of Thrones was on the air, an Eyes of the Dragon TV series felt like a no-brainer. But now, I’m not so sure. I feel like the ho-hum final season of Thrones has soured people on this sort of stuff for a while – although HBO is still moving forward with spin-offs. Maybe if those Thrones spin-offs succeed, Eyes of the Dragon will get a second chance.

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