'Percy Jackson And The Olympians' Series Reveals Premiere Date In New Teaser
While long projected for a 2024 release, it will not begin there
Oh thank the gods, they’re coming sooner than expected. As a birthday gift for the man himself, Disney+ has released a new teaser Friday for the second-chance adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It reveals the series will premiere on the service on December 20, 2023 with two episodes, followed by new episodes weekly.
Based on best-selling book series by Rick Riordan, the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, like the first movie, adapts The Lightning Thief. 12-year-old modern demigod Percy Jackson comes to terms with his newfound divine powers. Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt, but with help from his friends Grover and Annabeth, Percy embarks on an adventure of a lifetime to retrieve it and bring order back to Olympus. Unlike the two films produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox that adapted the books very loosely, Riordan was much more involved with the making of the series. He wrote the first two episodes with executive producer Jon Steinberg. James Bobin, who directed the 2010s Muppets films, Da Ali G Show, and Dora and the Lost City of Gold, directed the first two episodes.
Preserving what made Percy Jackson Percy Jackson for this go-round meant casting actors at the actual age the child characters were, 12-year-olds instead of 17-year-olds playing the roles of 12-year-olds, and that’s how Walker Scobell was cast as Percy, while Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri were cast as his best friends Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. Zeus will be played by the late Lance Reddick, who died in March. The cast also features a full roster of Greek deity figures, including Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes, Megan Mullally as Alecto/Mrs. Dodds, Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus/Mr. D, Jay Duplass as Hades, Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus, Jessica Parker Kennedy as Medusa, Toby Stephens as Poseidon, Virginia Kull as Sally Jackson, Glynn Turman as Chiron/Mr. Brunner, Adam Copeland, best known as WWE wrestler Edge, as Ares, and peer characters including Charlie Bushnell as Luke Castellan, Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse La Rue, Olivea Morton as Nancy Bobofit, Suzanne Cryer as Echidna, and Timm Sharp as Gabe Ugliano.
The release time seems to indicate that now that Agatha: Coven of Chaos has moved out of that late 2023 slot into a full 2024 release, Percy Jackson takes over. Last July, Riordan had stated he believed Percy Jackson would premiere in early 2024 but reiterated it was a studio decision with loads of factors into such, including spacing with other originals. Steinberg and Dan Shotz are the showrunners. They and Riordan executive produce with his wife Rebecca, and The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg, Bert Salke, Bobin, Jim Rowe, Monica Owusu-Breen, Anders Engström and Jet Wilkinson. The teaser can be watched below.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, TVLine, Deadline