Tuesday, July 7, 2020

RICK RIORDAN, Wife Give Updates on DISNEY+ “PERCY JACKSON” Series



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.”

Image courtesy of The Verge

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