Though news about a potential Percy Jackson series potentially heading to Disney+ has been a buzzworthy topic in recent months – former franchise star Alexandra Daddario even weighed in – it was only this morning that a possible series became official, official. Since fans of the franchise extend to both the big screen and the popular series of books about the character, his cohorts and a whole bunch of mythology, it’s only natural that author Rick Riordan made the announcement.
In fact, the prolific author took to YouTube to share the news with his “Demigods,” aka his fans. I’ve read all the Percy Jackson books and I had no idea "Demigods" was a thing, but it makes total sense and is a pretty solid fandom name, if I do say so myself. You can check out the full message straight from the author’s mouth, below.
According to the author "the wait is over" for the new series, as both Riordan and Disney+ announced today that Percy Jackson is officially coming. The company dropped some details about the new project, as well. Riordan and Black Sails' Jon Steinberg will be writing the pilot episode for the new streaming series, for one. After Disney gave the show the go ahead, James Bobin was also hired to direct the pilot episode.
Casting has just gotten started for the streaming show, so we don't have a giant announcement on that front yet, but it sounds like a reimagining of the books, and something separate from what the movies did.
This is particularly notable given that 20th Century Fox ultimately only produced two of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian franchise books and Rick Riordan didn't have a particularly positive relationship with the studio when those were being made, unlike what seems to be happening here. There is a ton of source material from the books, so there's enough possible storytelling for multiple seasons on Disney+ should the show find fans. The House of Mouse acquired the series as part of its acquisition of Fox, which was completed back in 2019.
Of course, the idea of a new series isn't brand new. Disney+ has been mentioning it in its plans since at least May of 2020, and we've already looked into everything we hope the Percy Jackson series explores, some of which we hope is different than what the films attempted. Rick Riordan actually formerly addressed the delays, noting that Percy Jackson is planned to be a "massive project" and the foundling streaming network wanted to make sure they got it right.
I know this seems like it is taking forever, but we are laying the groundwork for a massive project, and it is absolutely critical that we get the first script correct. It will set the tone, style and pace for the entire show.
Rick Riordan has shared other updates on the status of the series along the way, and it's only fitting he's the person to announce it getting off the ground. Still, we should expect it to take a little more time to get casting together and move forward with filming. But the good news is this is a greenlighted, it's official and fans no longer need to speculate about what's coming, because there should only be good and concrete news related to the project moving forward.
