Percy Jackson Creator Offers Major Update on Disney+ Release Date

Principal photography is well underway on the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and franchise creator Rick Riordan has just shared a pretty sizable update, including a potential release time. In a new blog post on his heavily trafficked blog, Riordan revealed that he expects the show to land on Disney+ in the beginning months of 2024.

"I hear there have been some wildly unrealistic dates floating around on social media, so I am here to moderate your expectations. Previously, I have said that my own personal best guess was sometime in 2023. I also warned you that this could definitely change," Riordan wrote.

He added, "Now that I have a somewhat better understanding of the work involved, here's what I am estimating: It's probably going to take us through December or into January to film all the episodes of season one, which is roughly one month of filming per episode (eight episodes total), though very often we are filming pieces of 101, 102, or even 103 out of order on any given day, depending on what set we are using. That means post-production will begin in early 2023, when the pieces are fitted together, edited and augmented with all the special effects and sound. This process also takes months and months, and that's not even accounting for closed-captioning, subtitling and dubbing into other languages for our international viewers. That takes another army of people to accomplish."

That's when the writer-turned-filmmaker said he believes the first season of eight episodes, which is set to encompass the first book in the series The Lightning Thief, will drop just under two years from now.

"Given all this, I think the most likely air date will probably be early 2024. Again, that's just me guessing," Riordan continued. "The actual release dates are determined by the studio and the streaming service, and have to take in hundreds of other factors like the release schedule for all Disney+ shows, timing for publicity, etc., etc."

In his mind, Riordan concluded, the end result will be well worth the wait.

"On the other hand, we spent two and a half years working behind the scenes just to get this show off the ground, and I've been waiting over fifteen years for a proper adaptation, so I think we can wait a little longer if it means getting the quality show we will be proud of," the writer said.

The Adam Project's Walker Scobell is playing the eponymous demigod, and he'll be joined by Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase), Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood), Virginia Kull (Sally Jackson), Glynn Turman (Chiron), Jason Mantzoukas (Dionysus), Megan Mullally (Alecto), Timm Sharp (Gabe Ugliano), Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse La Rue), and Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan). Riordan also co-wrote the pilot episode and will executive produce for 20th Television.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians has yet to set a release date.