The announcement of Disney+ ordering up a new adaptation of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books was met with excitement by fans, but since then, specific information has been a little thin on the ground. Now, however, series author Rick Riordan has provided an update of where things currently stand.
Over the last few months, Riordan has been offering tidbits about the torturously slow production on his blog, the latest of which bring us details on the state of near-completion of the pilot episode’s script, with the author seemingly very optimistic that it’s going to be a winner.
“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!”
Riordan’s optimism about the state of production, as well as his having creative input on the project, are both positive signs that we might get something good out of it, and strongly indicates that Disney are determined to not repeat the mistakes made with The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters that resulted in such lackluster movies.
The books take place over several summers and in the first one the central characters are twelve years old, so it’s most likely the plan is to cast child actors who will mature as opposed to the films aging them up and utilizing the standard Hollywood practice of having twenty-somethings unconvincingly pretend to be teenagers. The adaptation will most probably, like with His Dark Materials, have each season feature the events of one of the novels as its main story as well, with tweaks made to more prominently feature the overarching plotline running through them.
As Riordan states, constant redrafting is the norm for any script, and that it’s at a stage where only a few changes are required before being kicked up the ladder is a great sign of progress. Although there’s no set release date for Percy Jackson, we can rest assured it will be revealed when it’s good and ready.