Posted in: Disney+, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: Aryan Simhadri, disney, Leah Sava Jeffries, percy jackson, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, rick riordan, Walker Scobell

Percy Jackson: Rick Riordan on TV Being Better Format to Tell Story

Percy Jackson & the Olympians author Rick Riordan on casting decisions and having his faith restored in Hollywood with Disney+ TV series.

It's been a long near-two-decade journey for Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan. Since first publishing his original Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2005, his work was originally adapted to film for 20th Century Fox, now 20th Century Studios, that starred Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, and Alexandra Daddario as Percy, Grover, and Annabeth, respectively. As Hollywood was interested in catching lightning in a bottle with youth fantasy adventures following the success of Warner Bros' Harry Potter films, Fox adapted the first book in 2010 and generated enough success to produce a sequel in 2013's Sea of Monsters. Unfortunately, the combination of underachieving performance at the box office and creative differences soured Riordan to Hollywood until Fox's new owners in Disney purchased the studio in 2019 and made another attempt to adapt the IP for their streaming platform in Disney+ as a TV series. Variety chronicled the journey as its premiere looms closer.

"After the movie experience, I basically wrote off Hollywood for a long, long time," Riordan said. "I really didn't want to have anything to do with the film industry. There were many years of me saying, 'I don't want to engage. I don't want to think about other adaptations. I'm done.' But when it started to become clear that something was going to happen with me or without me, I had a long talk with Becky, my wife. We said, 'Well, if something's going to happen, it's probably best to give it one more shot.'" After meeting several executives and creatives at Disney, the studio finally won him over. "My feeling was always that television was the better format for 'Percy,' because it allows us a larger canvas to tell more of the story," Riordan said. "And to be more faithful to the source material, which is what the fans of the books really would love to see." When it comes to the new cast, starting with the new lead in Walker Scobell (The Adam Project), "He's got that snarky attitude, but he's also very sincere," Riordan said. "Did I care that his hair is a different color than what is described in the book? Not at all. He just felt like Percy."

When it came to Aryan Simhadri's casting as Grover. "Does he look exactly like I describe him in the book? No. That doesn't matter," Riordan said. On Leah Sava Jeffries' role as Annabeth, "Leah impressed me from the moment I met her. She has that sort of steel that makes her a leader, but there's a bit of vulnerability to her. Now, again, does she look like Annabeth looks in the books? No. Was that important to me? No. If anything, it was a massive benefit to broaden the cast in terms of representation." For more, including Riordan's thoughts on comparing film and TV casts, his extensive issues with the films, overcoming casting criticisms, and comments from the new cast (conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike), you can check out the feature here. Percy Jackson & the Olympians premieres December 20th on Disney+.

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