We’re all riding the high of an actual good book-to-television adaptation right now, thanks to the massive success of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, so the announcement Rick Riordan made on his Twitter account yesterday felt almost too good to be true.
We already knew that Disney+ was making a TV adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but this makes it feel so much more real. Also, if you click on the link to the casting call on Rick Riordan’s website, it looks like they’re trying to cast actual kids for this show, instead of bringing in adult actors like they did with the movies: they’re looking for someone who can “play 12.”
Also worth noting is that Percy’s ethnicity is not specified, indicating that they’re open to Percy being a person of colour in the show, which would be pretty cool.
The Percy Jackson franchise has not had very good luck with adaptations in the past – and I’ve certainly been burned by bad TV adaptations before – but it’s hard not to be excited about this. After the huge success of Shadow and Bone, I’m feeling optimistic. Throw in the fact that Rick Riordan is involved, and that they’re not aging up the characters, and I’m actually excited about this.
How are you feeling about this adaptation? Let us know in the comments!
