Quite a number of authors have
tried to carve their own share of followers in the past few decades during the
heyday of J.K. Rowling and her “Harry Potter” books. Just as many movie studios
have tried to adapt these literature franchises in the hope of putting one over
Warner Brothers and their blockbuster films of Harry and his Wizarding World.
Such is the case of then-20th Century Fox which tried to get a
cinematic franchise going for Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” books, only to get
lukewarm reception and stopping at two movies that Riordan did not quite
approve of.
This is why the May announcement
of a hopefully more book-accurate adaptation of “Percy Jackson” as a streaming series
on Disney+ was most welcomed by fans of Rick Riordan’s Greek Mythology-based
modern fantasy adventure books. Anticipation also increased with the knowledge
that Riordan and his wife and collaborator are both involved in an unspecified
capacity for the production. Then on Monday and Tuesday this week, according to
Comic Book Resources, the Riordans Tweeted
further updates on the development of the “Percy Jackson” series. While their best
estimate on when the show will premiere is long, they reveal that a pilot outline
is nearing completion.
Becky Riordan’s July 6 tweet notes
that the series development team has done two studio meetings recently, with
work on the plot outline of a show pilot close to completion. Said outline was
described by her as being similar to a script without dialogue. Becky adds that
she and her husband are “having a blast” at putting together the series and
will send more word soon.
Further news was indeed given the
following day, July 7 by Becky’s husband and original book author Rick himself.
He notes that writing for the series might take several months, particularly as
the COVID-19 pandemic makes face-to-face communication rather difficult.
Riordan gives the Disney+ “Percy Jackson” about two years before arriving on
streaming. He also compares the “complicated” TV story-writing process to his
own experience with the books, each installment of Percy’s adventures taking
anywhere from 6 to 12 months.
The “Percy Jackson” series stands
out from “Harry Potter” and the Wizarding World by showcasing the Greek gods of
Olympus living in the modern world, where their demigod children live normal
lives until being invited to Camp Half-Blood to learn about their powers. Main character
Percy, son of sea god Poseidon, finds himself undertaking many dangerous quests
to maintain peace among the Olympians, and foil a dark plot to reawaken the
ancient evil Titan Cronus.
Rick Riordan’s novels were
published by Hyperion Books while it was a Disney subsidiary. In addition to “Percy
Jackson,” the media giant’s exclusive online streaming platform is also considering
a series based on the George Lucas-written 1988 fantasy movie “Willow.”
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