Author Rick Riordan reveals how far into The Lightning Thief Percy Jackson season 1 filming is. Riordan's novel Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was first published in 2005, and the Percy Jackson series has since become a massively popular franchise. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is currently the fourteenth best-selling book series of all time, trailing narrowly behind series like Harry Potter and Nancy Drew. Disney+'s Percy Jackson television adaptation was announced in May 2020 and is currently in production.
With the immense popularity of the Percy Jackson books, it was only a matter of time before Riordan's world was brought to the screen. The first adaptation of Percy Jackson came in 2010, with a film version of The Lightning Thief starring Logan Lerman. The film was poorly received by fans and critics alike, who said it deviated far too much from Riordan's original novel - and, in fact, the author had little-to-no hand in the creative decision-making. Riordan has famously mentioned that he has never seen the Percy Jackson films, and in March 2016, he wrote an open letter to school teachers asking them not to show them to students in class. Despite this, however, The Lightning Thief was enough of a box-office success to warrant a sequel film in 2013, called Sea of Monsters. This film was met with similar criticisms. It wasn't until 2019, when Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, and therefore the rights to the Percy Jackson novels, that a television adaptation of the series was set into motion.
In a new blog post, Riordan provides an update on the filming of the Percy Jackson series. He says that, while filming doesn't always take place in chronological order, the series has filmed about the first 16 chapters of The Lightning Thief. With Riordan's book having a total of 22 chapters, that means more than two-thirds has already been filmed for the show. Read an excerpt from Riordan's blog below:
Well, in terms of content, we are about up to chapter sixteen in the book, though as I’ve shared before, we don’t film in strict chronological order.
When Will Percy Jackson Season 1 Premiere?
Though there has yet to be a set premiere date for Percy Jackson, it is expected that the series will debut in 2024, with season 1 consisting of eight episodes. With only six more chapters left to film from The Lightning Thief, production on the series seems to be progressing quickly. Chapter 16 from The Lightning Thief follows Percy, Annabeth, and Grover as they head to the Lotus Hotel in Las Vegas, and find themselves quite literally stuck there. In his blog post, Riordan also shares how happy he is with what has been filmed so far, writing, "I am happy with this show, folks. And I think you will be too."
With the film adaptations of Percy Jackson found seriously lacking by critics, fans, and even Riordan himself, the author's stamp of approval on the series is refreshing and optimistic. While the series seems close to finishing filming, Riordan also mentions in his blog post that post-production is expected to take almost an entire year, meaning that the expected 2024 release date seems fairly accurate so far. Though, as Riordan writes, "good things come to those who wait" - and the upcoming Percy Jackson series sounds like it will indeed be worth that wait.
Source: Rick Riordan