The Percy Jackson movies seemed to be the next blockbuster in theaters, they were even considered a replacement for the famous JK Rowlling saga “Harry Potter”. But something changed, and the failure of these films was imminent, why Percy Jackson could not get ahead?
What are the Percy Jackson movies about?
Entitled “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” this film saga is based on the books by the same name by author Rick Riordan . It tells the story of Percy Jackson, a boy who one day discovers that the myths about Gods and ancient Greece are real, and that he is also the son of one of the most well-known gods in history: Poseidon, which makes him a demigod, being the son of the mortal Sally Jackson.
Upon his discovery, Percy is intercepted by Grover, a satyr who leads him to the academy for demigods. There he meets Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena. The three boys cultivate a friendship then and join forces in order to protect the world from the king of the titans: Cronus.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
The Percy Jackson films were distributed by 20th Cenruty Fox and directed by Chris Columbus , world renowned for being the director of the Harry Potter saga. The first film entitled “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” was released in 2010. After this it was renewed for a second part in 2013, it was named “Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters”.
A third installment was expected to premiere in 2014, however, the film saga did not give the results that were required and was finally cancelled.
Why were they cancelled?
Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson books
The failure of the Percy Jackson saga and his movies is mainly attributed to the huge leaps in difference between the story of the books and the film adaptation. It is very common to find this type of discontent among fans when a book is brought to the big screen, mainly because there are already certain expectations regarding the story.
However, the case of Percy Jackson seems to be different from the others because the same author of the books, Rick Riordan, had warned the producers of the films that the changes would not favor the plot since they were very radical.
Beginning with the change in age of the protagonists, who went from being 12 years old in the book to 17 in the tapes. This was a bad decision for Riordan since the readers of the book series were between 9 and 12 years old, and seeing Percy much older would be a disappointment for them. On the other hand, Riordan expressed that the script was terrible , because it broadly insulted the original lines of the books, completely deviating from Percy’s story, also adding a sexual charge that did not exist in the novels.
Once they were released and we got to see Percy Jackson come to life in the Fox movies, the author’s premonitions became real. The saga made such poor profits that there was no choice but to give it up, leaving Percy Jackson without a happy ending.
In any case, it is possible to follow the story of our favorite demigod by reading the books that inspired the Percy movies:
- The Lightning Thief (2005)
- The Sea of Monsters (2006)
- The Titan’s Curse (2007)
- The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
- The Last Hero of Olympus (2010)
Are the Percy Jackson movies on Netflix?
The answer is no. Unfortunately the Percy Jackson movies are currently not available on Netflix. Where can we see Percy Jackson then? It is possible to see both installments on other streaming platforms such as Disney + and Movistar +.
Distribution
Although the Percy Jackson movies didn’t last as long as we fans would have liked, they left us with something good. And it is that the cast of actors who gave life to the characters in this saga have managed to chart their path in Hollywood.
Below we leave you the list of the actors in the cast of Percy Jackson and the characters that each of them played.
- Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson
- Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase
- Brandon Jackson as Grover
- Pierce Brosnan as Chiron
- Uma Thurman as Medusa
- Sean Bean as Zeus
- Melina Kanakerides as Athena
- Catherine Keener as Sally Jackson
Disney+ will make a Percy Jackson series
It’s not all bad news for fans! Earlier this 2020, Disney+ revealed that it plans to produce a series based on the Percy Jackson books. It is expected that this new version will be much more faithful to the novels, and that in addition, the project will have the participation of its author in each step of it. We can’t wait to see the results!
And you, have you seen all the Percy Jackson movies yet ? What do you think about them?
