Half-bloods, it’s time to rejoice! The series has officially been greenlit at Disney+! The series will be an adaptation of Rick Riordan‘s best-selling book series about a boy who discovers his father is the Greek God Poseidon. The announcement was made by Riordan himself today in a message on Disney+’s social media accounts.
The series, which is geared towards a general audience, will be a live-action adaptation of the worldwide bestselling book series. The show will begin with the first book, “The Lightning Thief.” Taking place in the modern day, it tells the story of a 12-year-old boy, Percy Jackson, who discovers that not only are the Greek Gods real, but that he is the son of Poseidon, the Greek God of the ocean, when he is framed for stealing one of Zeus’s most prize possessions. Now, with monsters on his tail and a civil war brewing in the Greek Pantheon, Percy must embark on a quest, that will take him across the country from New York to California, with his new friends to figure out who really stole it and clear his name.
The first two books in the series have previously been adapted into movies, in 2010 and 2013 respectively, but were heavily panned by fans of the books for changing too much of the story for the adaptation. Since then, fans have been clamoring for a faithful adaptation of the series. With Riordan, the series author, onboard for the series, fans are hopeful that they might just have their wish.
Riordan himself will be writing the pilot for the series alongside Jon Steinberg (Black Sails) with James Bobin (The Mysterious Benedict Society) directing it. Steinberg will oversee the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. Steinberg and Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, and Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg. The Disney Branded Television series is produced by 20th Century Television.
Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, gave the following statement about the series:
“With Rick Riordan, Jon Steinberg, and Dan Shotz leading our creative team, we’re deep into creating a compelling TV series worthy of the heroic mythological characters that millions of Percy Jackson readers know are well-worth caring about, and we’re eager to invite Disney+ audiences into stories that are true to the blockbuster franchise and full of anticipation, humor, surprise, and mystery.”
Karey Burke, 20th Century Television President, added:
“Bringing Rick Riordan’s brilliant Percy Jackson books to Disney+ as a television series has been a mission for so many of us at this company as well as for Rick himself, and Jon, Dan, James and the excellent team they have assembled have proven to be the perfect collaborators. Thanks to our friends at Disney Branded Television led by Ayo, and Disney Streaming led by Michael, this will be an adaptation for the ages, with all the excitement, action and mythology fans of the books expect and love.”
Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming, also gave a statement:
“The opportunity to deliver a new fantastical series based on the bestselling book franchise to audiences around the world is thrilling and we look forward to what our partners at 20th Television, Disney Branded Television and the ingenious Rick Riordan have in store for demigods everywhere.”
Currently, no casting news or expected premiere date have been announced for the series.
Aidan King is a graduate of Fitchburg State University and loves writing and talking about both movies and tv. In his spare time, Aidan participates in an Improv comedy group.
This content was originally published here.