Author Rick Riordan talks about how the development of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney+ show inspired him to write the sixth book in the series.
As fans of the franchise await the series’ arrival, writer Rick Riordan reveals how adapting his play for Disney+ inspired him to write a sixth Percy Jackson Book. The popularity of the Riordans Percy Jackson and the Olympians The book series spawned two film adaptations, a book series that also references Greek mythology The Heroes of Olympusalong with writing series of books on other mythologies such as The Kane Chronicles but Magnus Chase. The thirst for more stories about Percy Jackson and the mythology then led Disney+ to adapt Riordan’s work Percy Jackson and the Olympians series as a television show.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly for his upcoming book, Percy Jackson and the Grail of the Gods, Riordan shared how he first came up with the idea for the story while working with Disney. He thought Disney might be interested in bringing in a new one Percy Jackson story in life, which inspired Riordan to want to create a new book for the first time in years. Disney+ chose to make it Percy Jackson show about the original books instead of adapting a new story, but the spark was lit under Riordan and he decided to write a sixth book with Percy as the central character. Read what Riordan shared below:
“The idea for Chalice of the Gods actually started when we were looking at the adaptation process again, and it was kind of my idea to present something that could be of interest to Disney in general as a way to say, ‘Well, what could we do is that if you’re ready to do a new TV show, maybe I could revisit Percy and do a new Percy book for the first time in ages.” It turns out that I didn’t need that as a step, but as we were going through the TV show process, I started, as you say, reconnecting with the characters and getting to know them from the beginning could support the TV show. I revisited the ideas I’d had for new Percy books that had been on the back burner for a while, and it felt like the time was right. It felt like the right thing to do to celebrate Percy Jackson coming home for a new adaptation. And the story was just fun. I like the idea that Percy has a daily adventure in life and that the world is not at stake.”
What a new Percy Jackson book means for the future of the Disney+ show
shooting for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 has been completed and the series is currently in post-production. A release date has not been confirmed, although Walker Scobell has teased Disney+ Percy Jackson It will be released in late 2023 or early 2024. Scobell stars as Percy, with the main trio also including Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood. The adult cast includes Glynn Turman as Chiron, Lance Reddick as Zeus, Toby Stephens as Poseidon and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes.
Season 1 will consist of eight episodes that adapt its events The Lightning Thief, the first book in the series. If the show sticks to the format of adapting one book per season, the series will span five seasons to cover every book in Riordan’s original series. The Grail of the Godshowever, it could potentially extend those plans to a Season 6. Although the show hasn’t been released yet, a promising Season 2 update from Riordan makes it seem likely that the show will continue beyond Season 1.
There’s plenty of material to read or re-read as audiences wait for the Disney+ series to debut, including The Grail of the Godsand Riordan’s other book coming out this year, The Sun and the Star, a new story about demigod couple Nico di Angelo and Will Solace that Riordan co-wrote with writer Mark Oshiro. Riordan shared that Scobell pre-reads The Sun and the Star, yet another sign of how much Scobell loves the character and the universe he will bring to life. Between these books, the upcoming TV series, and Riordan raving about young actors, it’s a great time to be Percy Jackson fan.
Source: EW
