We Got This Covered are back at it again and this time, their latest money-making scoop revolves around a legitimate live-action adaptation of Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" with the author himself possibly leading the series' creative decisions
Wait, hold up! Are we talking about the same Percy Jackson film franchise that left a bad taste in our mouths and also embarrassed the author Rick Riordan, is getting a reboot? We Got This Covered seems to think that and those guys are hardly ever wrong.
It also seems there have been some more tidbits and information that might suggest it is making a return as a streaming TV series and that plans for it are all but confirmed. Stick around to see what’s in store for Riordan’s popular fantasy adventure series and whether it can finally do the source material the proper justice it deserves.
‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ is a collection of fantasy adventure novels written by Rick Riordan, which depicts the story of a 12-year-old boy who discovers that he is the son of the Greek God Poseidon.
The series has been largely well-received and has sold 69 million copies in more than 35 countries upon its release. The first book in the series titled ‘The Lightning Thief’ received largely positive reviews and won numerous awards including the School Library Journal’s Best Book of 2005. It was also held by renowned publication, The New York Times describing it as “perfectly paste, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats”.
The reception of the novel series at the time had peaked to the point where it was finally adapted into a film series from 20th Century Fox with the first one based on the first novel in the series The Lightning Thief. It would be directed by Chris Columbus from the Harry Potter series and starred Logan Lerman. The film was released to theaters on February 12, 2010. This would be followed by a sequel (and unfortunately the last installment in the film franchise) titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters which was based on Rick Riordan’s 2006 novel of the same name. It was released on August 7, 2013.
Both film installations received mixed critical reviews, with critics praising the action sequences, visuals, and Lerman’s performance, but negatively criticized the script, unfaithfulness to the source material as well as the ending. And to be honest, even though these films had some following, they weren’t exactly something to write home about, which is sad given how well-received the novel series was.
But if word from the same people who broke the news on Bill Murray returning for Ghostbusters 3 and a new Ace Ventura movie is to be believed, along with subtle hints from the author himself, we won’t just be getting a TV series adaption on Disney+ probably, but also an adaption that is much more faithful to the source material itself. And it all starts with the first season, which if the sources are to be believed, is going to be based entirely on the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief.
On December 10, 2019, author Rick Riordan, tweeted a response to fans who initiated a trend known as #DisneyAdaptPercyJackson without any heads-up:
Interestingly, Riordan, who was in LA at the time of this tweet, was actually in talks with Disney executives to try and court them into adapting his novel series. He claims that it is what fans of the source material truly want and that social media is highly instrumental in encouraging studios to make it happen for real.
Riordan later gave an update on December 12, 2019, where he said “Had some good meetings at Disney today. Way too early to know what if anything might happen, but I will keep at it! At least they knew me by name at the security gates! (zoom in on my nametag to see what I mean 😂)”
And then lastly, there was the December 16th tweet:
Here, Riordan said:
“Back in Boston. Good productive trip to LA. Now we wait for a response. The folks at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank were very welcoming and heard me out. Not sure about that one guy second from left, though. He seemed awfully, I dunno, Grumpy?”
Now that sounds pretty promising, especially when it’s coming straight from the horse’s mouth.
WGTC also reported that the leads will be more age-appropriate with legit 12-year olds to be cast as Percy and his chums. This might be an indication that the studio could be going for relatively unknown young talents. It also makes more sense then when Logan Lerman was cast as Percy, who was 18 at the time, along with Alexandra Daddario, who was 23 back then.
Only time will tell how faithful the series will actually be to the source material and whether Riordan himself will be in charge of the creative direction for the show. We’ll be sure to keep you posted if we hear anything else.
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