Between Baby Yoda and the surprise drop of Hamilton over the summer, it was a huge first year for Disney+. Looking forward, the streaming service has originals upon originals announced, such as a long-awaited reboot of Rick Riordan’s YA series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The five-book series based on Greek mythology has a huge fanbase that was disappointed a decade ago when Fox’s Hollywood films really got things all wrong.
Disney+’s Percy Jackson show was announced in spring 2020 by Rick Riordan himself, who will serve as a producer with his wife Becky. They’ve since assured fans that they will be involved in the development and production of the series every step of the way this time around. Six months later, there’s still a lot of work to be done on the series. Riordan updated fans about where the project is at with these words:
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.
On the author’s official website, Rick Riordan was candid about why the project has yet to move into the casting process or get a release date over on Disney+. The studio recently had a huge day of announcements, where original content like a ton more Star Wars shows were announced for fans. In terms of the Percy Jackson show, only a first look at the logo was shared:
That looks great! Considering the author of the beloved series is heavily involved, we can expect it to be much closer to the source material, this time hopefully allowing its main cast to be the right ages. The live-action series will adapt the first novel The Lightning Thief throughout one season, with hopes to tell the entire series with five seasons. Rick Riordan also said this:
On the Hollywood front, there is not much new to report because the film industry takes a winter break from before Christmas until this week, so everything has been on hold. We are still working on the revisions to the pilot script, but we should be sending it to the top execs at Disney soon for them to weigh in. They may have their own notes for us to include. Then, once everyone is satisfied with the script, we will hopefully get the green light to begin development.
Once the pilot script is approved and the right tone is established, we’d imagine the team would then move forward with writing the rest of the first season and casting the stars to be involved in the Disney+ show. It does sound like there’s a much longer path for Percy Jackson than we might have expected, but what sets the series apart from other Disney+ shows is getting the adaptation of the series right after it's been beloved for so long.
While we wait for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Disney+ has its first MCU series, Wandavision, premiering next week on January 15. Check out what else is new to the streaming service this month here on CinemaBlend.
