Percy Jackson & the Olympians (also known as Percy Jackson) is a two-film series based on the novel series of the same name by the author Rick Riordan. The series was distributed by 20th Century Fox, produced by 1492 Pictures and consists of two installments. The first film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), was directed by Chris Columbus and was released on February 12, 2010. The second installment, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, was originally intended to be released in March 2013 but was instead pushed back to August 7, 2013, and was directed by Thor Freudenthal. While the film series was intended to match the five novel book series, and the second film laid the foundation for a third film, further films were never produced. The shortened series in total grossed nearly $430 million at the worldwide box office. A reboot television series premiered on Disney+ in December 2023.
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians | |
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 Percy Jackson logo as used in the second film | |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date | 2010–2013 |
Running time | 224 minutes |
| Countries | United States Canada |
| Budget | $185 million |
| Box office | $428.7 million |
The films follow the adventures of demigod Percy Jackson and his comrades at the demigod training ground of Camp Half-Blood. In the first film, Percy must go on a quest to save his mother from the underworld and prove his innocence when he is accused of stealing lightning from Zeus. The second film revolves around Percy's escapades as he must retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece from the Sea of Monsters, or the Bermuda triangle, which is the only thing that will save the camp from the forces of darkness.
Films
editPercy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
editIn June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book.[1] In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project.[2] Filming began in April 2009 in Vancouver.[3] The film was released on February 12, 2010. It was met with mixed reviews upon release and was a commercial success, grossing almost $227 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $95 million. The plot revolves around a sixteen-year-old Percy Jackson who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, Greek God of the sea, and goes to Camp Half-Blood, a training camp for demigods, the half mortal children of Greek gods. When Percy's mom is kidnapped by Hades, and Percy is accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt, Percy and his friends go on a quest to rescue his mom from the underworld, leading them across America to find Persephone's pearls, while proving that Percy is not the lightning thief and is innocent.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
editIn October 2011, 20th Century Fox announced a sequel based on the second book, The Sea of Monsters.[4] The film was released on August 7, 2013. Percy Jackson, son of Greek god Poseidon, discovers he has a half-brother, Tyson a Cyclops, and embarks on a journey with his friends to retrieve the Golden Fleece to save a magical tree containing the spirit of Zeus's daughter Thalia Grace who died at the gates of Camp Half-Blood while saving Annabeth, Luke and Grover. This tree protects their training ground, Camp Half-Blood and reinforces their borders. They must travel to the Sea of Monsters to save the fleece, and conquer the challenges that may await them. The film grossed just over $202 million at the worldwide box office.
Cast and crew
editCast
editThis section includes characters who have appeared in the films.
- An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
- Y indicates a younger version of the character.
| Character | Film | |
|---|---|---|
| The Lightning Thief (2010)[5] |
Sea of Monsters (2013)[6] | |
| Main characters | ||
| Percy Jackson | Logan Lerman | |
| Annabeth Chase | Alexandra Daddario | Alexandra Daddario Alisha NewtonY |
| Grover Underwood | Brandon T. Jackson | Brandon T. Jackson Bjorn YearwoodY |
| Luke Castellan | Jake Abel | Jake Abel Samuel BraunY |
| Mr. Brunner / Chiron | Pierce Brosnan | Anthony Head[7] |
| Tyson | Douglas Smith[8] | |
| Gods and Titans | ||
| Zeus | Sean Bean | Sean Bean (Deleted scene) |
| Poseidon | Kevin McKidd | Mentioned |
| Hades | Steve Coogan | |
| Hera | Erica Cerra | |
| Athena | Melina Kanakaredes | Mentioned |
| Hermes | Dylan Neal | Nathan Fillion[9] |
| Demeter | Stefanie von Pfetten | |
| Apollo | Dimitri Lekkos | |
| Artemis | Ona Grauer | |
| Mr. D / Dionysus | Luke Camilleri | Stanley Tucci |
| Ares | Ray Winstone | Mentioned |
| Aphrodite | Serinda Swan | |
| Hephaestus | Conrad Coates | |
| Persephone | Rosario Dawson | |
| Kronos | Mentioned | Robert Knepper |
| Camp Half-Blood demigods | ||
| Clarisse La Rue | Leven Rambin | |
| Chris Rodriguez | Grey Damon | |
| Humans | ||
| Sally Jackson | Catherine Keener | |
| Gabe Ugliano | Joe Pantoliano | |
Crew
edit| Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Composer | Editor | Cinematographer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | Chris Columbus | Mark Radcliffe, Chris Columbus, Karen Rosenfelt & Michael Barnathan | Craig Titley | Christophe Beck | Peter Honess | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | Thor Freudenthal | Chris Columbus, Karen Rosenfelt & Michael Barnathan | Marc Guggenheim | Andrew Lockington | Mark Goldblatt | Shelly Johnson |
Reception
editBox office performance
edit| Film | Release date | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Budget | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America | All time worldwide | ||||
| The Lightning Thief | February 12, 2010 | $88,768,303 | $137,728,906 | $226,497,209 | #651 | #495 | $95,000,000 | [10] |
| Sea of Monsters | August 7, 2013 | $68,519,879 | $133,728,197 | $202,247,751 | #937 | #581 | $90,000,000 | [11] |
| Total | $157,288,182 | $271,456,667 | $428,744,970 | $185,000,000 | ||||
Critical and public response
edit| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lightning Thief | 49% (150 reviews)[13] | 47 (31 reviews)[14] | B+ |
| Sea of Monsters | 42% (118 reviews)[15] | 39 (35 reviews)[16] | B+ |
Criticism from the author
editRick Riordan, the author of the book series, has mentioned in numerous interviews that he has never seen the films, to keep them from influencing the way he views the characters.[17] During March 2016, Riordan wrote a letter asking teachers not to show the films to students during class time.[18] Both films received criticism for their deviation from the source material, with the second film in particular being criticized for having merged the plots of both the second and fifth books of the series. In 2018, Riordan wrote a blog post detailing how limited his influence on the production of the films was, while also making public some of the e-mails he sent to the films' producers, in which he expressed concern over the ways they were altering his stories.[19]
Music
edit| Title | U.S. release date | Length | Composer(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | February 5, 2010 | 59:07 | Christophe Beck | ABKCO |
| Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | August 6, 2013 | 1:08:54 | Andrew Lockington | Sony Classical |
Reboot
editThe rights to the Percy Jackson novels were transferred to Disney following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.[20] In May 2020, Riordan announced that Disney would be producing a live-action television series following the story of the series, with the first season adapting The Lightning Thief. Riordan also confirmed that he, along with his wife Becky, would be involved in the development of the series, a significant departure from the film series, in which Riordan was mostly shut out of the filmmaking process.[21] The series was greenlit in January 2022,[22] began production in June 2022,[23] and premiered on Disney+ on December 19, 2023.[24]
References
edit- ^ Brodesser, Claude (June 23, 2004). "'Lightning Thief' strikes Maverick". Variety. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Gilstrap, Peter (April 17, 2007). "Columbus struck by 'Lightning'". Variety. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (March 25, 2009). "Fox 2000 bulks up 'Percy Jackson'". Variety. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
- ^ Fox Moves Ahead With New 'Die Hard' and 'Percy Jackson' Films The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 31, 2013
- ^ Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), retrieved October 25, 2017
- ^ "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters". Reelz Channel. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
- ^ "Anthony Head to Play Chiron in 'Percy Jackson' Sequel". Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ "'Percy' sequel zeroes in on Smith". February 16, 2012. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ "Nathan Fillion to Play Hermes in 'Percy Jackson' Sequel". The Hollywood Reporter. March 15, 2012. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- ^ "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on August 7, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions - Rick Riordan". RickRiordan.com. April 5, 2016. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ "Rick Riordan writes open letter about 'Percy Jackson' movies". Hypable.com. March 25, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ "Memories from my TV/Movie Experience | Rick Riordan". November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- ^ Rought, Karen (December 1, 2019). "'Percy Jackson' reboot may happen at Disney, according to Rick Riordan". Hypable. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (May 14, 2020). "'Percy Jackson' Series In The Works At Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
- ^ White, Peter (January 25, 2022). "'Percy Jackson & The Olympians' Lands Official Series Order At Disney+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (June 2, 2022). "'Percy Jackson' Disney+ Series Adds Five to Cast, Including Megan Mullally and Jason Mantzoukas (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ Hailu, Selome (August 18, 2023). "'Percy Jackson' Teaser Gives First Look at Greek Gods and Monsters, Reveals Disney+ Premiere Date". Variety. Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.