The author of a series of fantasy novels recalled the period when the studio made film adaptations, hoping for a new Harry Potter phenomenon.
While we are waiting for the debut of the new series Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+, author of the literary saga Rick Riordan recalled the years of creating film adaptations, highlighting the studio’s main mistake.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was released in 2010, followed by a sequel, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters, in 2013. At the box office, the films grossed $227 and $202 million, respectively. crushing the studio’s hopes of becoming the next Harry Potter in terms of box office receipts.
Aging the characters was a mistake
According to Riordan, one of the “fundamental mistakes” was the casting, as the maturation of the characters caused some dissatisfaction with audiences. In the first film, Percy was played by seventeen-year-old Logan Lerman, while twenty-three-year-old Alexandra Daddario and twenty-five-year-old Brandon T. Jackson played Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, respectively.
Riordan wanted to rectify this situation with the next Disney+ series: Percy Jackson’s new translator, Walker Scobell, is 14 years old, while Leah Save Jeffries (Annabeth) and Arian Simhadri (Grover) are 14 and 17 years old, respectively.
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“Now, having experienced the production process, I completely understand why they did it. It’s much easier to work with older actors,” said Riordan. “But when you have older characters, it’s a completely different dynamic. You’re missing out on much of the wonder. The magic of a middle school kid doesn’t feel the same.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians debuts on Disney+ on December 20th.