Series creators Rick and Becky Riordan took to Twitter to reveal some new updates on the current development of Disney+‘s highly-anticipated series adaptation of the Percy Jackson novels. Becky Riordan excitedly shared that the project is moving along quite fine as they are almost finished with the pilot outline which means that pre-production is still in the early stages. In a separate tweet, when a fan asked about the show’s potential release date, Rick Riordan honestly answered that fans will have to wait a little longer as the project might optimistically take around two years before making its long-awaited premiere.
Any news to share? A couple of studio meetings this week. Getting close to wrapping up the pilot outline. A script outline isn’t the same as an outline for a term paper but is more a script without dialog if that makes sense. We are having a blast! We love our team! More soon.
— Becky Riordan (@camphalfblood) July 6, 2020
So it takes me 6-12 months just to write a novel all by myself. Making a TV show is infinitely more complicated, especially w/ unknown factors like the pandemic in play. We are still in the earliest stages of writing, which will take months. Most optimistic guess 2 years? Maybe? https://t.co/RbwXGIYbIX
— Rick Riordan (@rickriordan) July 6, 2020
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The Percy Jackson novel franchise began in 2005 with The Lightning Thief, which proved to be a smash hit and spawned four sequels, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian, with five supplement books and graphic novel versions of each being released shortly after.
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The first novel was adapted for the big screen in 2010 with Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) helming and Logan Lerman (Hunters) starring in the titular role. Though receiving generally mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, with criticism aimed at the film’s unfaithfulness to its source material, it was a box office hit, grossing over $226 million on its $95 million budget, which led 20th Century Fox to order a sequel.
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This came in 2013 with the adaptation of The Sea of Monsters, featuring the return of Lerman along with co-stars Alexandra Daddario (We Summon the Darkness) and Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder). Much like its predecessor, it received more mixed reviews from critics and audiences, with more criticism aimed at its unfaithfulness and melding of stories from the second and fifth novels, and was a box office hit, grossing $200 million on its $90 million budget. A third film in the series based on The Titan’s Curse was in development, but after languishing in development hell it appears to have been shut down.
