During the heyday of young-adult fantasy novels in the late 2000s, one book series that managed to stand out from the pack and build a mass audience wasPercy Jackson, written by Rick Riordan. The series tackled the complexities of Greek mythology while introducing many of those timeless stories to modern audiences by merging them with modern characters and contemporary story elements. As the demigod son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, Percy Jackson enters a wider world in which he is trained and taught at Camp Half-Blood, a refuge for young demigods and all sorts of mythological beings.
The first book,The Lightning Thief, was published in 2005, and it was then followed by new installments every year until 2009’sThe Last Olympianconcluded that original story. Since then, the world that Riordan created inPercy Jacksonhas continued to grow, with sequel series such asThe Heroes of OlympusandThe Trials of Apollo, as well asspin-offs centered around other mythologieslikeThe Kane Chronicles(Egyptian) andMagnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard(Norse).
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
There has also been more than one attempt to translate Riordan’s works into screen adaptations. The first of these was 2010’sPercy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, directed by Chris Columbus and starring Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan and more. The reaction to this film wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t as bad as it would get. In 2013, a sequel,Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, was released, and the franchise is still recovering from the long-term damage it dealt. Here’s what happened:
Building Off 2010’s The Lightning Thief
Saying that the reaction to 2010’sThe Lightning Thiefwas mixed would be an understatement. While the film did feature some standout moments, it was widely disliked by much of the franchise’s existing fan base. This is largely because the film made a lot of notable narrative changes in its adaptation of the first novel. That’s not to say that deviation from the source material is inherently a bad thing; there are lots of great films out there that very loosely adapt the stories that inspired them. However, in the case ofThe Lightning Thief, the changes that were made were largely for the worse, and they severely detracted from the story that was being told.
That said, there was still a silver lining to the film. Much of the casting was applauded by both new and old fans, particularly Lerman in the lead role. Also, in the few moments in which the magic of the original novel was able to shine through became beloved. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 48% critic score and a 53% rating from audiences. While those numbers are far from great, they are not nearly as bad as they could’ve been.
However, whenSea of Monsterswas produced as a follow-up, it failed to build upon the strengths ofThe Lightning Thief.In fact, it managed to do the exact opposite by deviating even further from its source material and losingthe magic ofPercy Jacksonentirely. It did this in a number of ways, most blatantly by introducing key story elements that didn’t appear until the fourth book,The Battle of the Labyrinth, and rushing through a number of different scenes that were only half-baked and shoddily written. Adding insult to injury,Sea of Monstersonly attempted to win back fans of the books in a few superficial ways, such as giving Daddario blonde hair to look more like her character from the books.
Related:What We Hope to See in the Disney+ Percy Jackson Series
Terrible Reviews and Box Office
With the various mistakes of theSea of Monstersmovie, the general reaction to the movie was even worse than it had been forThe Lightning Thiefa few years prior. It received a middling B+ audience score via CinemaScore, the same as the first film, while its audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes also stayed about the same with 54%. The critic score, however, dipped noticeably to a 42% approval. However, the biggest detriment of the film was the lack of conversation that it sparked. WhileThe Lightning Thiefmanaged to make a bit of a splash upon its release,Sea of Monsterscame and went with general audiences barely taking notice.
This shift was apparent in the box office returns for the film.The Lightning Thiefwas already a bit of a box office disappointment, as it had pulled in just $223 million worldwide – $88 million domestically and $134 million overseas – on a budget of $95 million. WhenSea of Monstersopened in the summer of 2013, it debuted with just $14 million in North America, where it went on to pull in a total of just $68 million. Overseas, the film performed about on par with its predecessor, grossing $132 million. With a global total of $200 million on a budget of $90 million, it was clear thatSea of Monstershad failed to increase the size of the already small audience that the first film had brought in.
After the failure ofSea of Monsters, any further development ofPercy Jacksonfilms was halted. Although the film had set up some of the storylines introduced in the third book,The Titan’s Curse, that story never made its way to the big screen. All the actors and creatives involved moved on to other projects, andRiordan began criticizing both filmsvery openly for their lacking qualities. It seemed like that was to be the end of attempting to bringPercy Jacksonto life in live-action, but the franchise is now unexpectedly poised to make a return.
Related:How Percy Jackson Could Become Disney’s Next Big Series
Could the New Disney+ Series Fix Things?
The return ofPercy Jacksoncomes in the form of a new Disney+ series, which will reboot the story and begin again from the beginning ofThe Lightning Thiefwith its debut in just a few weeks – on Jul 13, 2025. The first season will consist of eight episodes, which will adaptThe Lightning Thiefin full. While some fans have expressed doubts about the new adaptation, there is an added layer of trust in this version of the story, as creator Rick Riordan is extensively involved with the project. He serves as a producer, creator and writer for the series, and he’s even directly credited with co-writing three of the eight episodes.
The involvement of Riordan in the show is a reason for optimism regarding the series’ faithfulness to the original books. While it’s still to be seen if that faithfulness will pay off in a satisfying and successful manner, it has certainly created a lot of excitement for the show. The first trailer for the series managed to pull inalmost 85 million views in its first 10 days, more than most other Disney+ series have, indicating a sizable interest in the new show. Additionally, the new show has the benefit of following the two lackluster films, meaning that the expectations for it aren’t as sky-high as they were prior to those movies’ releases. However, with an estimated budget of $12-$15 million per episode, Disney has bet big on thePercy Jacksonfranchise and its ability to deliver to a large audience.
If successful, the newPercy Jacksonshow could launch a new franchise for the Mouse House, which has been encountering some rough water with major releases from both theStar Warsand Marvel universes in recent years. Riordan has stated that the team behind the show is hoping to adapt each book in the series into a single season, indicating that a five-season run would be the ideal run for the show – potentially six, depending on the interest inThe Chalice of the Gods, the newly-released sixthPercy Jacksonnovel.
