Greek mythology kids… our time has come.
A couple months ago, Disney+ announced that they greenlit the official Percy Jackson adaptation. That was the best day of the whole year so far. That is, until I woke up on April 11th and saw they cast the title character.
Our new Percy will be played by Walker Scobell, a thirteen-year-old actor so new to Hollywood that he has only two previous credits on his IMDb. You may know him from The Adam Project, a Netflix movie filled with family themes and a touch of time travel where he plays a young Ryan Reynolds. After seeing the movie, I can personally attest Scobell has all the training he needs to play the sarcastic, sassy Percy we all love.
I wasn’t the only one thrilled by the casting choice. Mere moments after the news hit, #PERCYJACKSON was trending on Twitter and my Tik Tok was flooded with videos of very pleased fans. For those who don’t keep up with the over-a-decade-old fandom, “The Movies That Must Not Be Named” weren’t met with great reviews. Though entertaining, they departed from the most important parts of Riordan’s best selling story and aged up the characters from 12 to about 16 or 17. Thanks to “Uncle” Rick’s involvement, the new show is already set to honor the books we know and love.
Since the internet is already spiraling with theories, here’s what we know for sure:
- Only Percy has been cast. Everyone is anxious to find out who will be playing Annabeth and Grover, so of course the internet’s FBI sleuthing skills have emerged. Though there are plenty of guesses being made based on followers and physical descriptions, those are all they are– guesses. I love a good theory as much as the next fan, but Riordan himself has assured us that we have a couple more weeks of waiting while they finalize the rest of our favorite trio.
- Riordan isn’t on social media. You may follow his accounts, but you may not know they are all run by Ashlee Latimer, his social media manager. To keep focused on his work and the complicated task of crafting a television show, he’s passed his accounts on and keeps off of the internet. The ideas presented on his pages are approved by him, but don’t assume that anything you read there has been typed by the man himself. If you want to keep up with the latest news (he often announces everything first on his blog), find him here: https://www.readriordan.com/ and https://rickriordan.com/.
- The show is set to film in Vancouver this summer. This means we may expect to see it on Disney+ sometime in early 2023. This also means that unless you’re a current resident of Canada, you unfortunately cannot be an extra. Trust me, my heart was broken by that too.
Check out “Uncle” Rick’s blog and stay tuned for more good news. I have a feeling we may hear more about Seaweed Brain very soon…