Disney+ announced they ordered a television adaptation of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians novel series titled Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
In the press released announcing the series, they promised the television series will be “closely aligned with Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan with more than 180 million books in print globally.”
To that end Riordan serves an executive producer on the series and will be writing the pilot episode alongside Jon Steinberg.
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Riordan also announced the series on Disney+’s YouTube channel stating, “The wait is over, Demigods. I am thrilled to be the first to tell you that Percy Jackson and the Olympians is really, truly, and for sure coming to your screens.
He continued, “The smart folks at Disney+ have given us the green light. And the best part is James Bobin is on board as our pilot director. James is a terrific person and also an incredibly talented director who recently directed the pilot for Disney+’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, which I loved.”
“James knows the Percy Jackson books well. His kids are fans. So, we’re in great hands. Thanks to all of you for your excitement about the series. It’s gonna be great,” he concluded.
In their press release, Disney+ announced the series is “geared towards a general audience and especially tweens, teens, and young adults.”
They went on to provide a brief synopsis for the show stating “the live action series tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.”
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The series will be overseen by Steinberg and his producing partner Dan Shotz. Both Steinberg and Shotz are executive producers alongside Bobin, Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, and Gotham’s Group Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, and D.J. Goldberg.
Disney Branded Television President Ayo Davis has high hopes for the show commenting, “With Rick Riordan, Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz leading our creative team, we’re deep into creating a compelling TV series worthy of the heroic mythological characters that millions of Percy Jackson readers know are well-worth caring about, and we’re eager to invite Disney+ audiences into stories that are true to the blockbuster franchise and full of anticipation, humor, surprise, and mystery.”
20th Television President Karey Burke also stated, “Bringing Rick Riordan’s brilliant Percy Jackson books to Disney+ as a television series has been a mission for so many of us at this company as well as for Rick himself, and Jon, Dan, James and the excellent team they have assembled have proven to be the perfect collaborators. Thanks to our friends at Disney Branded Television led by Ayo, and Disney Streaming led by Michael, this will be an adaptation for the ages, with all the excitement, action and mythology fans of the books expect and love.”
Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians was previously adapted into live-action. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief arrived in theaters back in 2020. The film starred Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth, Sean Bean as Zeus, Pierce Brosnan as Mr. Brunner, and Brandon T. Jackson as Grover.
It also featured Uma Thurman as Medusa, Rosario Dawson as Persephone Kevin McKidd as Poseidon and Steve Coogan as Hades.
A sequel titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was released in 2013 and saw Jackson and his friends embark on a quest to discover the Golden Fleece.
The two films had a total worldwide gross of over $423 million according to The-Numbers.
Do you have any interest in this new television adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians? Do you think Disney will keep its promise to keep the show “closely aligned” to the novel series?