Percy Jackson, written by Rick Riordan, is a book series based on Greek mythology. It started as one novel and has stemmed into a multi-series franchise. Over 15 books have been published following a handful of characters along their journey to save the world. Percy Jackson is the main character of this franchise’s first series of books. He starts as a 12-year-old who discovers he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon. From there, he deals with the politics of the Olympians, making many friends and enemies, and fighting against a prophecy he is meant to fulfill.

Two films were made based on this book series, one in 2010 and another three years later in 2013. Let’s take a look at the films and their great potential, and why they ended.

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Percy Jackson from Books to Movies

     20th Century Studios

Many young adult novels become films, and many with a large franchise and incredible fan base, such as the Percy Jackson community, do exceptionally well when they hit theaters. In terms of revenue, the first Percy Jackson movie did very well.

But the fans revolted. They didn’t like the movies, as they changed many aspects away from the book. The author of Percy Jackson said he had no say in the films and, to this day, hasn’t seen them. So it’s no wonder the movies were simply mediocre without the author’s input into the script since, out of everyone, he would know the characters best.

Major Errors in Percy Jackson Movies

Fans were upset with the vast changes and felt that the movies didn’t capture the relationships the novels had.

What errors did they make? The main plot of the series is that Percy attempting to make it to his 16th birthday where he will fulfill a prophecy and decide the fate of the gods. In the books, Percy Jackson starts off as a 12-year-old boy. In the first movie, he is already 16, and the prophecy is changed to him surviving till his 21st birthday. This was a widely regarded lousy move as it took the “young” out of the young adult genre. It’s as if they didn’t want patience for the characters to get older and wanted to skip to the part where they could have more romantic tension between the characters.

Much like the example above, while the basis of major plot points were kept the discrepancies made the fans upset. Another major example was the “secret villain” of the novel, the friend Luke who betrays Percy. In the book Luke poisons him, and Percy realizes in horror that he has been wrong about Luke’s friendship. In the film, Percy discovers Luke’s motives, and has a big battle throughout New York City. This kept the same essences of betrayal, but it didn’t have the moment of horro with the realization that Percy has been tricked. The movie forced a fight to early, as it was meant for much later in the series.

The one thing that most fans felt was okay was the casting. Everyone mainly looked like the readers had interpreted the characters to appear, other than the character of Annabeth, who had the wrong eye and hair color. Yet, they were all too old to play the characters; they needed to have a younger cast to fulfill the fan’s desires for a Percy Jackson film franchise.

Ironically, these films have sometimes been called “good bad movies,” because they are bad, and it makes people mad because the films are so inaccurate, but the movies themselves are actually quite okay. Not fantastic, but okay. If you hadn’t read the book series you might have thought it was an extremely cool concept, with an interesting plot. It’s only when you realize the books were so vastly better than the films that the films gain a bad reputation. Of course, many novels are said to be better than films; in fact, just about all novels are better than their films, but the gap between the books and the films of Percy Jackson is just too wide to close.

Any Hope with Percy Jackson on Disney+?

     Disney+

Thankfully there is a new Percy Jackson TV series happening on Disney+. Of course, it’s too soon to know if it will live up to the high expectations of fans who are in love with the book series. Still, the author of the books has been heavily involved in making the TV show, leading the fans to believe hope for seeing their favorite characters on screen is still out there.

The TV series can learn much about what “not to do” in the series from the films, and the fans hope they take those lessons and put forth a better Percy Jackson Franchise. The overall feedback about the show’s casting has been primarily positive, and you can watch it on Disney+ when it’s released in late 2023 or early 2024.