Generations of readers around the world have loved this literary saga. It finally becomes a television series available for streaming.
It is not uncommon for teenage readings to become successful films or sagas years after their release. Hollywood does not hesitate to adapt literary successes to the cinema, whether Harry Potter, Twilight or even dystopian stories Hunger Games, Divergent Or The labyrinth. After series adaptations of films, the trend is now even towards series adaptations altogether. In any case, this is what happened to a new successful literary work which was transposed to the small screen.
From December 20, Disney+ offers its subscribers the opportunity to stream the first episodes of its series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. As its name suggests, it is the fantasy saga written by Rick Riordan. Published between 2005 and 2010, the novels were very successful with more than 180 million copies sold. A sixth volume was published in English in 2023, but has not yet been translated into French.
The plot takes place in the United States, in our modern society, but is largely inspired by Greek mythology. This is modernized through the eyes of Percy Jackson, a teenager who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, and therefore a demigod. He then goes to the Half-Blood colony to learn how to use his powers, like other young people. There he meets Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, and Grover, a Satyr, before embarking on several quests to save Olympus.
To play the main role, the production chose the young actor Walker Scobell, previously seen in Adam through time on Netflix. He will opposite Aryan Simhadri who plays Grover Underwood and Leah Sava Jeffries, chosen to play Annabeth Chase.
We will also find renowned actors to embody the different gods of Greek mythology: Lin-Manuel Miranda will be Hermes, Toby Stephens plays Poseidon, Lance Reddick lends his features to Zeus, Jay Duplass will be Hades.
This is not the first time that readers of Percy Jackson will discover their favorite saga adapted for the screen. In 2010, Chris Columbus directed Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, before a second film adapting the second volume and this time directed by Thor Freudenthal was released three years later. It was Logan Lerman (The perks of Being a Wallflower) who played the title role opposite Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) and Pierce Brosnan.
The first two episodes of the series Percy Jackson will be available on Disney+ on December 20, 2023. Thereafter, a new episode will be available every Wednesday. In total, the series is made up of eight binge-watching episodes.