A 'Percy Jackson' TV Series Is Coming To Disney+, So Get Excited
Rick Riordan's bestselling Percy Jackson book series has already gotten the live-action treatment, but apparently, once was not enough. Now, the demigod-focused story is heading to the small screen. Here's everything we know about the Percy Jackson TV series coming to Disney+:
Written by Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books follow a boy — named Perseus "Percy" Jackson of course — who discovers he is the son of Greek god Poseidon and human Sally Jackson. In Greek mythological terms, this makes him a demigod. The series is all about Percy coming to terms with his superpowers and learning how to use them, and fans follow along as he hones his skills to control water, make hurricanes, breath underwater, and talk to animals.
Now, this five-book series — which consists of “The Lightning Thief,” “The Sea of Monsters,” “The Titan’s Curse,” “The Battle of the Labyrinth,” and “The Last Olympian" — will get turned into a series for Disney+, Riordan announced via Twitter on May 14. His tweet read:
Hey Percy Jackson fans, for the past decade you’ve worked hard to champion a faithful on-screen adaption of Percy Jackson’s world. Some of you have even suggested 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 1. Rest assured that Becky 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!
Diehard fans of the franchise may detect some subtle shade in Riordan's tweet, possibly aimed at the two film adaptations of the books. Both "The Lightning Thief" and "Sea of Monsters" were made into feature films in 2010 and 2013, respectively, but they garnered a lot of criticism from fans due to major deviations from the source material. The third film planned for the franchise, didn't even make it to production.
The new series would be something of a do-over to right the perceived wrongs of the original screen adaptations. Even Logan Lerman, who starred as Percy in the movies, tweeted his support for the new project, writing: "Excited to see this! Hope it gets the adaptation the books deserve. Congrats @rickriordan."
Per Riordan's Twitter announcement, the series will start with retelling the first novel The Lightning Thief, in which 12-year-old Percy first learns of his demigod status. There are no official announcements of a release date on Disney+, but as Riordan promised, there's more info to come.
