Rick Riordan Addresses Potential of Disney+ Adapting Percy Jackson Sequel Series

The live-action world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is only just beginning. A serialized adaptation of Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels kicked off production this past June, filming its eight-episode first season that brings the events of The Lightning Thief to life. Shooting is nearing the finish line, as some top stars have already wrapped their scenes, but the show’s production won’t officially come to a close until next month. Even when cut is yelled for the final time, Percy Jackson will be polished in post-production for nearly a year, leaving the show not expected to stream until 2024.

While this means a significant amount of patience, fans have already begun speculating about the world’s full potential on Disney+. The Lightning Thief is just a small piece to Riordan’s literary universe, which also includes four more Percy Jackson installments as well as sequel series Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo. That said, work has already begun on adapting Riordan’s Egyptian mythology series, The Kane Chronicles, as Netflix is developing that series as feature films.

Taking to a Good Reads question and answer, Riordan emphasized that it’s “too early” to determine if Disney+ or Netflix will adapt more from his catalog.

“It’s too early to say whether more adaptations are coming,” Riordan wrote. “That very much depends on how Percy does with Disney+ and Kane with Netflix. If they come out well and people watch them, then we can hope for more.” 

Riordan has addressed the possibility of a live-action Heroes of Olympus before, responding to another Good Reads question with a similar answer earlier this fall.

“That’s impossible to know right now. Making a decision about something like Heroes of Olympus would very much depend on how PJO does,” Riordan wrote in October. “If we can get through all five seasons of that, I will call it a huge win!”

Even if Disney+ has interest in adapting Heroes of Olympus, it wouldn’t be able to arrive until after five seasons of Percy Jackson. The events of Heroes take place shortly following The Last Olympian and directly expand upon the established Percy Jackson lore. While everything remains hypothetically for now, there is room for Riordan and company to plant Heroes of Olympus-related seeds throughout Percy Jackson Season 1, even if they don’t sprout for years to come.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is currently on a production break and will resuming its final weeks of filming after the holidays.