One of the most eagerly awaited series that has been announced for Disney+ is “Percy Jackson And The Olympians”, which tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover and Annabeth, Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.

Walker Scobell will be playing the title role of Percy Jackson, with Aryan Simhadri (Disney’s “Spin”) and Leah Sava Jeffries (“Empire”) playing Percy’s friends Grover and Annabeth. The series will also star Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Dior Goodjohn, Olivea Morton, Charlie Bushnell, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, and Timm Sharp.

Filming is currently underway in Vancouver, Canada, and this weekend, Percy Jackson creator, Rick Riordan, who is also an executive producer on the show, has shared an update on when he is expecting the series to be released on Disney+.

We are on track with our schedule, and everything is going according to plan, though we still have a long way to go before this series is ready. We have sort of, kind of, mostly finished the principal photography for 1o1 (season one/episode one) and have done a good chunk of the filming for 102, but principal photography just gives us the raw puzzle pieces which will then need to be put together with sound track, special effects and editing to yield a finished product. And we still have a lot of filming yet to do to get all those puzzle pieces for the whole season.

He added:

So when will the show be out? I hear there have been some wildly unrealistic dates floating around on social media, so I am here to moderate your expectations. Previously, I have said that my own personal best guess was sometime in 2023. I also warned you that this could definitely change. Now that I have a somewhat better understanding of the work involved, here’s what I am estimating: It’s probably going to take us through December or into January to film all the episodes of season one, which is roughly one month of filming per episode (eight episodes total), though very often we are filming pieces of 101, 102, or even 103 out of order on any given day, depending on what set we are using. That means post-production will begin in early 2023, when the pieces are fitted together, edited and augmented with all the special effects and sound. This process also takes months and months, and that’s not even accounting for closed-captioning, subtitling and dubbing into other languages for our international viewers. That takes another army of people to accomplish.

Given all this, I think the most likely air date will probably be early 2024. Again, that’s just me guessing. The actual release dates are determined by the studio and the streaming service, and have to take in hundreds of other factors like the release schedule for all Disney+ shows, timing for publicity, etc., etc.

He also explained why the wait will be worth it:

Long wait? Yeah, it is. On the other hand, we spent two and a half years working behind the scenes just to get this show off the ground, and I’ve been waiting over fifteen years for a proper adaptation, so I think we can wait a little longer if it means getting the quality show we will be proud of. Another thing I have said before, but it bears repeating: This show is the most ambitious project any of us have ever done, even for our seasoned and experienced team members. A huge number of sets. Complicated special effects. Young actors leading the show. That all takes time. But the payoff will be worth it. I am confident of that.

With this series featuring lots of special effects, it does take much longer to turn these shows around, plus if there are any additional delays due to the pandemic, it could delay things.

Rick Riordan also shared a small update on if there will be more seasons of the show:

What about future seasons? We do not have any official word on that yet, but we are all operating on the assumption that we will be moving ahead with a second season and are making plans and schedules accordingly. When I know something I can share, you will hear about it right here.

Rick Riordan and Jon Steinberg will serve as writers of the pilot, and James Bobin will direct. Steinberg will oversee the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. Steinberg and Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, Anders Engström, Jet Wilkinson and The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg.

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

View all posts