Percy Jackson has a new lease on life in Hollywood. Development on a serialized reboot of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is actively in production at Disney, currently filming its premiere season in Vancouver. The show has enlisted the talents of Walker Scobell in the titular role, while author Rick Riordan serves as an executive producer. While Percy Jackson is still in the earlier stages of its eight-month production shoot, the series has already accomplished quite a bit. The James Bobin-directed episodes have balanced both on-location and virtual StageCraft shoots, while also working in original “non-book” scenes created exclusively for the show.
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While specifics surrounding the series remain close to the vest, Scobell recently offered insight into his portrayal of Percy Jackson. During promotion for his upcoming film Secret Headquarters, Scobell revealed that his version of the son of Poseidon has a mean streak.
“In the other iterations of it, he was kind of calm the whole time,” Scobell explained. “But in this one, mine, he really has, how do I put it… Poseidon’s fury, I guess? He gets pretty angry, and I like that a lot.”
Scobell is the first actor to play Percy Jackson in a television series, but he is the third overall to wield Riptide. Logan Lerman (Bullet Train) portrayed the character in the 2010s’ film adaptations of the books, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, while Chris McCarrell brought Percy to life on stage in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.
As Scobell alludes to, his Percy possessing “Poseidon’s fury” aligns with how the character behaves in the books. While Percy’s placement as a protagonist is rarely put in question, the often short-fused demigod makes his fair share of impulsive choices that place his friends in precarious positions. In fact, the Great Prophecy, a prediction made by the Oracle of Delphi that warned of Olympus’s impending fate, heavily hinted at how much Percy’s decisions impact the world around him.
“A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds,” the Great Prophecy foretells. “And see the world in endless sleep. The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze.”
Both Lerman and McCarrell have offered their support to the upcoming Percy Jackson series. Lerman specifically praised Riordan’s inclusion in the production process.
“I’m really excited,” Lerman said of the reboot. “I’m curious to see it. I think everything I’ve seen so far like, peripherally, just about casting and how they’re doing it, and that Rick is running it just makes me happy. It makes me happy for the fans. I’m excited for this new generation to watch it.”
McCarrell personally tweeted Scobell following his casting, passing the proverbial torch (trident?) to the young actor.
“When I was cast my mom sent me a card that said: ‘If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.’ – Percy Jackson,” McCarrell wrote. “This is me passing that card on to Walker Scobell.Go off, go in, live it yourself.You are in great hands and we are so.excited.for you.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is currently filming.
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Screenshot from Disney's <em>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</em> D23 presentation
