Fans of Rick Riordan rejoice! Recently, Netflix announced that they will be adapting “Kane Chronicles” for several feature films. In addition to this series being adapted, Disney+ also announced earlier this year that “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” will be adapted into a TV series.
At this time, not much is known about the adaptation of the “Kane Chronicles.” The story follows two siblings, Sadie and Carter, who are powerful magicians tasked with saving their family and the world from awaking Egyptian gods. Netflix has acquired the rights to make a film trilogy out of the three books in the series. In a blog post on his website, Riordan said, “We have been working on this deal since last October, about the same time we started working on Percy, and I’m so glad I can now announce it!”
This year also saw the announcement that “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” will receive a TV series on Disney+. The “Percy Jackson” series follows the story of Percy, son of Poesidon, and his friends as they go on various quests to save the world. In a blog post, Riordan said, “We can’t say much more at this stage, but we are very excited about the idea of a live-action series of the highest quality, following the storyline of the … original series, starting with the ‘Lightning Thief’ in series one.”
The upcoming adaptation of “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” has been a long time coming. The original series was released over 10 years ago. As I’m sure you are aware, some of the books have been adapted before, namely “The Lightning Thief” and “The Sea of Monsters.” The previous adaptations have faced much scrutiny as they do not stay true to the work of Riordan; they are unanimously hated among the fans of the book series for that very reason. Perhaps the biggest change from the books to the movies is the age difference. Percy Jackson is only supposed to be 12-years-old in the first book. In the movies, he is portrayed as being in high school. This is just one of many differences between the books and the films that have provoked ire in the fanbase.
Despite the mass disapproval of the film adaptations, it is widely agreed among fans that Logan Lerman, the actor who played Percy in the films, was the perfect choice to play Percy Jackson; he was just in the wrong film at the wrong time. Fans are now calling for him to play Poseidon in the Disney+ series to right this wrong.
Rick Riordan has made it very clear that the upcoming “Percy Jackson” adaptation will not follow suit of the previous films. Riordan has publicly criticized the films since day one. In a viral tweet, he said, “They should censor the entire [film]. Just two hours of blank screen.” In another viral tweet he went as far as to say, “Well, to you guys, it’s a couple hours entertainment. To me, it’s my life’s work going through a meat grinder when I pleaded with them not to do it.“ It’s very safe to say that the Disney+ adaptation will be following the books closely as Riordan never would have signed on for this if Disney hadn’t explicitly given their word that they would follow the books to a tee. It’s an exciting time to be a Rick Riordan fan because they’re finally getting the adaptation they deserve.
COVID-19 has, of course, put much of the plans for both adaptations behind schedule. Neither “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” nor “The Kane Chronicles” have been able to start casting yet. As it currently stands, it does not look like either adaptation will be released for at least two years. Nonetheless, fans can rest assured that it will certainly be worth the wait.
