Posted in: Disney+, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney plus, interview, percy jackson, Percy Jackson & The Olympians, rick riordan

Percy Jackson Series Creator, EPs on Adapting Rick Riordan for Disney

Percy Jackson & the Olympians series co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg, EP Dan Shotz & EP/director James Bobin discuss Disney+'s adaptation.

It's hard to believe it's been 13 years since Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians was first adapted to the screen in 2010's The Lightning Thief. While the 20th Century Studios' film saw success at the box office, it was followed up with the lackluster sequel in 2013's Sea of Monsters. Ten years later, a new generation will be able to experience the world again with Walker Scobell taking over the title role from Logan Lerman-starred films for the Disney+ reboot thanks to the likes of series creator Jonathan E. Steinberg and co-executive producers Dan Shotz and (also director) James Bobin. Steinberg and Shotz previously worked together on several projects like FX's The Old Man, AppleTV+'s See, and Starz! Black Sails. The trio spoke to Bleeding Cool about collaborating with Riordan for the series if they incorporated elements beyond the first book, The Lightning Thief, into the first season, casting, and world-building.

Bringing 'Percy Jackson & the Olympians' to TV for Disney+

Bleeding Cool: When you conceived the 'Percy Jackson & the Olympians TV series, how did you get Rick on board, given how he felt about the films?

Steinberg: I didn't have to convince Rick of anything except to let us play with it. This was something that Rick felt was something to be explored. The conversation was about how and trying to engage with him about what was exciting about it to us, how we approach it, and how we become faithful to the book in a meaningful way. A lot of the early conversations were really about what you imagine the show wants to look and feel like and how you are going to make sure that the fans of the book series can watch it and feel like they're getting the thing they've always wanted. There was a meeting of the minds on that early on.

When it came to developing season one, were you wanting to take elements from the first book 'The Lightning Thief' or were you going to evoke elements from the other books into the series?

Shotz: We have the benefit of Rick creating an entire universe 20 years ago when he wrote that first book. He wrote, going forward, that that's all we had. Being able to look back and take advantage of those books was a part of our process. We were able to see things now that we, in the build, knew where the story was going. We were able to completely build upon that and look at Gods we wanted to pull in, look at moments, myths. There were so many things that we could pull from later seasons to peppered throughout this so that it's set up for hopefully a long run.

The casting process is probably going to be one of the most exhausting ones there. Did you have anyone penciled in from day one, or did you have open auditions?

Bobin: There was a global search for everyone, including the core three cast members in Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. We were fortunate that Walker [Scobell] came early in the process because if you look at the show, he's like a monumental arch. He's that important all around. He's in every single scene, as the name of the show. He is incredibly important. We were so lucky that we saw Walker both on tape and in person. It's one of those things where he comes in, and you go like, "This is him." It's such a great gift because then, around that, we found some people we knew he could work with. Casting the gods was slightly different because that was more of a process of deciding on actors that we admired and felt would fit these characters. Certainly, the casting of Percy was the most important moment that happened early on. Casting was a tough job, but we were lucky.

What are the advantages of adapting 'Percy Jackson' as a TV series as opposed to the time when the films were made? Were there technologies that made production easier?

Shotz: Trying to tell this large adventure in a short amount of time is not easy. The fact that we have eight episodes to tell this story gives the time not only for these massive set pieces but for the character development and sit and be with these characters. As they're going through these experiences, think about the books and why they've resonated for 20 years across many nations and hundreds of millions of people, that it's because of the investment in these characters and what they're going through. People feel like they can access these kids, embracing and empathizing with them. Having the time helped break out nicely over these eight episodes. Tech-wise, this industry changes every ten days and shifts. We had the luxury of working with [Industrial Light & Magic] with their stagecraft volume stage, which was a game changer for us. Also being able to do these creatures in such a realistic way was always the goal from the beginning that we were going to deliver on the imaginations of many people around the world. We would need all the right tools to do that.

What has your experience in television taught you that helped you most going into this project and how it came out?

Steinberg: If you're not learning from everything you work on, you're not paying enough attention. It's a difficult medium. It's long form. It's trying. Now, in the last post-'Game of Thrones' world to be doing everything a feature would do in a third of the time for four times as much screen time. There's always a little bit of "never enough time or resources" or "never enough anything," and you must find ways to get there. Every project helps in its own way.

The two-episode premiere of Percy Jackson & the Olympians, which also stars Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri, simultaneously drops on Disney+ and Hulu on December 20th, and new episodes stream on Wednesdays.

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