Percy Jackson and the Olympians was pegged by Fox as their massive young adult franchise (a la Harry Potter or The Hunger Games) when the first film, based on the novels by Rick Riordan, premiered in 2010. While the initial movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was a hit, the followup, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters was less successful. Although there are five books in Riordan’s book series, Fox never adapted books three, four, and five.
The story may yet get a happy ending. Disney acquired the rights to Percy Jackson when it purchased 20th Century Fox, and they announced today that they are turning the property into an “epic adventure series” for Disney+. The news was announced by Riordan himself, who also revealed that James Bobin, who made the very charming live-action Dora the Explorer movie, will direct the series’ pilot.
Here is Disney’s official synopsis of the show:
Geared towards a general audience and especially tweens, teens, and young adults, 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.
Given the subject and the audience, Percy Jackson does feel like a very good property for Disney+ if they want to attract a slightly older audience than the one coming for animated movies — or if they want to attract a slightly younger audience than is watching The Book of Boba Fett. No premiere date was announced for the Percy Jackson show; casting has just begun.
Sign up for Disney+ here.
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