Many fans of Percy Jackson & the Olympians were less than thrilled with the big screen adaptation of Rick Riordan’s series—the author included. Now, after years of trying to get a new take on the fantasy saga, Riordan has announced that a television series is coming to Disney+.
Riordan announced in a video on Twitter that a new series adaptation of Percy Jackson & the Olympians is heading to Disney+, following months of negotiations (we reached out to Disney for confirmation). In a follow-up tweet, Riordan shared that it’ll be a live-action series based on the entire five-book series, with the first season focusing on The Lightning Thief. Here is his statement in full:
Hey Percy Jackson fans, for the past decade, you’ve worked hard to champion a faithful on-screen adaptation of Percy Jackson’s world. Some of you have even suggested that it would be a great series for Disney+. We couldn’t agree more! We can’t say much more at this stage but we are very excited about the idea of a live-action series of the highest quality, following the storyline of the original Percy Jackson five-book series, starting with The Lightning Thief in season one. Rest argued that Becky [Riordan] and I will be involved in person in every aspect of the show. There will be much more news in the future, but for now, we have a lot of work to do! Buckle up, demigods. It’s going to be a fantastic, exciting ride!
Percy Jackson & the Olympians is about a young boy named Percy Jackson who discovers he’s a demigod and, while going on a quest to recover Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt, finds himself entrenched in the world of gods and monsters. The first book in the series was turned into a film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, followed by a sequel two years later. To surmise what fans weren’t thrilled about, let’s just say the movie—directed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’s Chris Columbus—tried to Harry Potter the story up quite a bit.
Over the past decade, Riordan has been open about his less-than-ideal feelings toward the movies, and has been looking for a chance to give his work a new face and voice. But it’s been a long road. Back in January, he wrote on Twitter that the negotiations between Disney and Fox during the buyout made things complicated.
There’s no word on who else is going to be involved in the production, apart from Riordan and his wife and collaborator Becky Riordan—but a source close to the production confirmed to io9 that the series is in early development. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
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