It’s the end of the week, and things are getting a little Greek. By which we mean, at long last we have a better look at Disney+’s upcoming YA adaptation Percy Jackson And The Olympians. In the 2010s, the hit novel series by Rick Riordan was adapted into two serviceable films – 2010’s Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief, and 2013’s Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters – with Logan Lerman in the title role. But the general feeling was, it wasn’t the most accurate adaptation, and there was much more in the books left uncovered on screen – so hopes are high that the Disney+ series will provide a more faithful (and longer-running) take on the story. Check out the teaser here:
As well as giving us a fresh glimpse at what the show has in store, fans will be thrilled to see a streaming release date offered here. The first two episodes of Percy Jackson will arrive on 20 December, clearly positioning it as a Christmas family favourite to sit and watch together. Riordan himself has written the scripts for the show alongside Jonathan E. Steinberg, with The Muppets filmmaker James Bobin helming the first two episodes. The Adam Project star Walker Scobell is playing Percy Jackson, with Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Percy Jackson & The Olympians tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.”
Will it manage to do the Percy Jackson story justice on the screen at last? Will it prove to serve a wider audiences beyond the teen demographic? Will it be the best thing to happen to Greek cinema since Yorgos Lanthimos and Mamma Mia? We’ll find out this December.