In just over two months’ time, the first two episodes of the brand new Disney+ Original series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” is set to arrive on Disney+ in time for Christmas.

The new series is based on Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” 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.

Recently, a new interview with the cast and creators of the show was published by Variety, revealing some interesting details on the upcoming Disney+ show.

Since Disney+ initially launched, it has struggled to find major tentpole series to stand alongside major franchises like Marvel and Star Wars, to pull in audiences.  Disney tried with “Willow”, but that failed to ignite audiences’ attention, and the next big attempt at creating a new franchise for Disney+ is “Percy Jackson”.

Creating a new major show like “Percy Jackson” doesn’t come cheap, and sources have indicated that the budget for each episode is between $12 million and $15 million, though Disney hasn’t confirmed this information.  That level of budget, puts it on par with “The Mandalorian”.  The show also shares the use of the “Volume” to help keep costs down, as the technology allows the crew to create virtual sets in different locations.   With eight episodes in the first season, it looks like this series will come in at around $100 million to create.

Karey Burke, president of Disney’s 20th Television, has said:

The North Star in the development process was to honor the books and Rick’s vision.  And secondarily, to have the show live alongside the worlds created by our sister studios at Lucasfilm and Marvel. We really wanted to spare no expense to make sure that this series felt as big and imaginative.”

This expense has put the franchise under some more pressure, as Disney is hoping that the show boosts subscriber growth for Disney+, especially as this is one of the first chances Disney+ has of creating something new.  There have been two films released by 20th Century Fox in the past, neither of which did amazingly well at the box office due to significant changes from the source material and how cheap the then leaders at the studio were in creating the films.

While Disney has lots of high hopes for the “Percy Jackson” franchise, including potentially adding attractions to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, right now, the character’s creator, Rick Riordan, is focused on trying to get all five of his books adapted for the screen, saying:

“If nothing else were to happen but those five seasons, I would be delighted”.

The series stars Walker Scobell (“Percy Jackson”), Leah Sava Jeffries (“Annabeth Chase”), and Aryan Simhadri (“Grover Underwood.) Renowned “Percy Jackson” creator Rick Riordan worked closely with the creative team and showrunners Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz to bring his books to life and deliver a series that stays true to his vision for these heroic characters that millions of book fans know and love. The first two episodes are written by Riordan and Steinberg and directed by James Bobin. Steinberg and Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Monica Owusu-Breen, Anders Engström and Jet Wilkinson.

The first two “Percy Jackson” films are available to stream on Disney+ now, and the brand new Disney+ series will premiere on Wednesday, 20th December 2023, with two episodes, followed by a new episode each week.

Are you looking forward to watching “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”?  Let us know on social media!

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

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