Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an adventure fantasy film series based on the novel of the same name by Rick Riordan. The renowned Hollywood director and filmmaker Chris Columbus directed and co-produced the first film with Karen Rosenfelt, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe. And Thor Freudenthal directed the second film. Fox 2000 Pictures produced the film along with other production companies, and 20th Century Studios and The Walt Disney Company distributed the film. The film stars Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, and Brandon T. Jackson in the main roles, and Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Erica Cerra, and many more in ‘side roles’.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV Series

The author of the Percy Jackson novel, Rick Riordan, announced on his blog account in May 2021 that the development of a Percy Jackson TV series is underway. He told in his blog that Disney+ is making a television adaptation of his best-selling fantasy novel series ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympian’. The first season of the series is based on the first novel The Lightning Thief. Riordan further wrote on his blog that the casting for the series is in its earliest stages and the search for the main character of the novel Percy Jackson, and other characters is underway. The American actor Logan Lerman played the main and title character in the film adaptation of the novel.

For the role of Percy Jackson, they are looking for an actor who can play a 12-year-old boy. He also wrote, “We are looking for the best person who can embody the character we all know and love from the books,”. And he said “As with all casting choices, we will be following Disney’s company policy, which says: We are committed to diverse, inclusive casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to disability, gender, race and ethnicity, age, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other basis prohibited by law.”

Rick Riordan was disappointed with the film adaptation of his novel and did not expect that there would be any TV series of his novel, he decided to take a semi-retirement and enter into a Ph.D. program. But Disney contacted him and told him that they wanted to make a television adaptation of his novel, so he put everything aside and decided to work with Disney in the series.

Percy Jackson Film Series

The first part of the film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief premiered in February 2010, and received mixed reviews from the critics. But it did very well on the box office. It grossed over $226.4 million against its budget of $95 million. The second part of the film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters premiered in August 2013. This part also did fine on the box office and grossed over $200.9 million worldwide. Sea of Monsters also received mixed reviews from the critics. The series overall grossed over $430 million worldwide against an overall budget of $185 million.

The producers of the film series had initially planned to make five films all based on five novels of the series, and the third installment to the series The Titan’s Curse was planned to start production. But because of some reasons, they never produced the third film.

Both films of the series received mixed reviews from critics. The first part Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief holds a 49% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes, a 4.9/10 rating on IMDb, and a 2/5 rating on Common Sense Media. The second part Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters holds a 42% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, a 5.8/10 rating on IMDb, and a 2/5 rating on Common Sense Media.

Plot

There are two films in this series. The film series follows the story of Percy Jackson, a demigod, and his friends at Camp Half-Blood, the training camp for the demigods. In the first installment of the film series, Percy’s mother is in danger and he has to go and save her from the underworld and he must prove his innocence when he is accused of stealing lightning from Zeus.

In the second part of the film, Percy must go into the sea of monsters and bring the legendary Golden Fleece back, as he is the only one who can save the camp from the dark forces. His brother and friends join hands with him as he leaves for the mission.

Production Company(s):                              1492 Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Dune Entertainment, Sunswept Entertainment, TSG Entertainment.

Producer (s):                      Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, Mark Radcliffe, Karen Rosenfelt

Director(s):                         Chris Columbus (Part 1), Thor Freudenthal (Part 2)

Film Duration:                  119 minutes (Part 1), 106 minutes (Part 2)

Release Date:                    February 12, 2010 (Part 1), August 7, 2013 (Part 2)

Amazing Facts about Percy Jackson and the Olympians

• In the scene in which they steal a Maserati from the casino and drive it out, you can see that there is a trident, the weapon of Poseiden, instead of a Maserati logo.

• According to Greek mythology, Athena is Zeus’s daughter, which makes Percy and Annabeth’s first cousins once removed. But in the final book, Percy states that gods don’t have DNA, so Annabeth can’t be his sibling.

• The writer of the novels Rick Riordan did not like the script of the film and has never watched the films. although he accepted the money the producers gave to him for the filming rights of the book.

• Rick Riordan hated the script for the film and said about the film that “(his) life’s work going through a meat grinder.” He also said that he does not blame the actors and thinks that they are very talented actors.

• Although Percy Jackson is 17 years old in the first film, but in the book he is actually 12 years old.

• There are two real-life Camp Half-Blood in Manhattan and in Brooklyn.

• The actress Uma Thurman who played Medusa in the film actually interacted, handled, and held snakes with the help of a snake wrangler, in order to prepare herself for the role of Medusa.

• Sean Bean’s character survives throughout the film, which does not happen very often. Usually, Sean Bean dies or goes to prison in most of his movies, but not this one.

• When the first film released in 2010, the female lead actor Alexandra Daddario was around six years older than her character’s age, while the male lead actor Logan Lerman was around one year older than the character he was playing.

• Brie Larson and Nina Dobrev auditioned for the role of Annabeth but the role went to Alexandra Daddario.

The cast of ‘Film Adaptation’

Logan Lerman

as Percy Jackson, a demigod and Poseiden’s son (main character).

Alexandra Daddario

as Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Ahena, a demigod and romantic foil of Percy.

Brandon T. Jackson

as Grover Underwood, Percy’s guard/protector, and Persephone’s love interest.

Jake Abel

as Luke Castellan, a demigod, Harmes’ son.

Sean Bean

as Zeus, Brother of Poseiden and Hades, Uncle of Percy, King of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus, and god of lightning, sky, and thunder.

Uma Thurman

as Medusa, a gorgon cursed by Athena.

Percy and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief : Watch Live

Percy and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters: Watch Live

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