Rick Riordan — does anyone else think that name is so cool it sounds made up? — is the author of Percy Jackson & the Olympians, a five-book series about a young man who finds out he’s a demigod, the son of Poseidon, the the Greek god of the sea. The book are beloved and were turned into a couple of of meh movies some years back, but fans have always wanted more. And Disney, ever-gracious, plans to give it to them with a new Percy Jackson TV show on Disney+.
We haven’t heard much about the show since the initial announcement last year, but Riordan recently updated fans about the progress of the show on his blog, and it sounds like things are moving along nicely:
"We have a couple of important meetings this coming week with the top brass at the studio for the Percy Jackson TV show, so keep your fingers crossed. Everyone who has read the pilot script loves it, but there will be a few additional tweaks we need to make before we send it off to its next stop: the top execs at Disney+. That’s normal. In script writing, as in every other kind of writing, you can expect to do many, many drafts! All the input has been super positive and helpful, though. Everyone is committed to making this the best show we possibly can. I remain excited and guardedly optimistic that we are on the verge of getting a really first-rate project off the ground. As always, though, good things require time and patience! Stay tuned!"
It always pays to be “guardedly optimistic,” especially in Hollywood.
Disney would have to try hard for Percy Jackson & the Olympians not to be a success
That said, I doubt Disney will waste the opportunity they have with this. Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a really solid YA fantasy series that hasn’t yet been run into the ground. A well-made series will please longtime fans and create tons of new ones, giving Mickey Mouse yet another arrow in his overstuffed quiver.
There’s no release date as of yet, obviously. I wouldn’t expect to see anything solid for a year or two.
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h/t CinemaBlend