The 21st Century has been littered with failed attempts at turning almost every YA book series that sold a decent amount of copies into a multi-film blockbuster franchise, which can all be traced back to the success of the first live-action Harry Potter movie in 2001. Of the countless page-to-screen adaptations, only Twilight and The Hunger Games enjoyed any sort of sustained success, with most adaptations lucky if they even got a sequel.
One of the more divisive translations was Percy Jackson, with the source material shifting close to 70 million copies worldwide. The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters did solid if unspectacular business at the box office, raking in a combined haul of $427 million on production costs of $185 million, but the reception was tepid to say the least.
Critics felt as though the duology brought nothing to the table that they hadn’t seen before, while fans weren’t best pleased about the huge deviations from books, with author Rick Riordan the most vocal critic of all. However, Percy Jackson has been trending online this week as folks begin to get hyped for the impending Disney Plus reboot, as you can see from the reactions below.
since percy jackson is trending, we'd like to remind everyone that a very wonderful musical of the lightning thief existed and you can still listen to the original soundtrack in many streaming platforms! ? https://t.co/EbkxXtDH9c
— ? (@troubledemigods) February 5, 2021
Reading the Percy Jackson series again as an adult showed me valuable life lessons & I have a lot of feelings about this series. ? https://t.co/8DFyclmEF7
— Ondine ?✨ (@OnyxOndine) February 4, 2021
I loved Percy Jackson https://t.co/tlmAGtxlMN
— Meech (@Meeeeeech__) February 5, 2021
I’m gonna re read my favourite books growing up and I’m so excited, starting w the moral instruments and Percy Jackson series ????
— L? (@_libsxo) February 4, 2021
Percy Jackson taught an entire generation an unnecessary amount of Greek Mythology
— Cait? (@CaitCamelia) February 4, 2021
I’d give my left kidney to re-experience the Percy Jackson scene where they walk into the casino as Poker Face plays in the background
— Meredith Ott (@Merebear_27) February 5, 2021
i said it once i’ll say it again, they better cast logan lerman as poseidon in the disney percy jackson live-action
— darth boredom (@aiman_mahadi_) February 5, 2021
I do enjoy when I answer a question about Greek mythology and the lecturer thinks I've read classics when I actually just read Percy Jackson as a wean. If I'm being honest, I'm not good at reading long books, it's my Achilles' heel. X
— ✨ Miss PunnyPennie ✨ (@Lenniesaurus) February 4, 2021
Is the Percy Jackson Disney adapation going to be faithful to the books? https://t.co/cXaf4Gphpf
— Hawk ✥ ELLIE'S PLATONIC WIFEY (@HawkOpinionated) February 5, 2021
Even if anyone remains on the fence about revisiting the movies, which are already available in the Disney Plus library, there’s still plenty of time left to make a decision. Riordan recently revealed that the pilot script is currently awaiting approval from the Mouse House boardroom, so even in the most optimistic of cases, we won’t be seeing the first episode of the Percy Jackson show until the first quarter of 2022 at the very earliest. Fans will surely be hoping it does justice to the books this time, though, because there are at least five novels of content to mine for inspiration.
