Rick Riordan Shares Disney+ has Found Its Lead for Percy Jackson
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Actor Walker Scobell (The Adam Project) has landed the title role in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a series adaptation of author Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels. Riordan, an executive producer of the series, announced the news Monday morning on his website.
“Walker Scobell is an incredibly talented young man who blew us away with his audition tapes for the role of Percy. Many of you recently discovered how great Walker is when you watched his movie The Adam Project, in which Walker lit up the screen as a younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character. We were fortunate enough to audition Walker months before that movie came out, but the film only confirmed what we already knew about his talent. It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark and heroism to embody our hero Percy Jackson.”
Disney+ gave a series order to Percy Jackson and the Olympians in January. The series follows a 12-year-old boy (Scobell) who learns he is a demigod. He’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus. Production on the series from Disney’s 20th Television is set to begin in the summer.
Percy is smart and compassionate, with a sharp sense of humor. He’s always seen himself as an outsider, in part because of how the world views his ADHD and dyslexia. Impulsive and quick to anger when things seem unfair, he’s also an affectionate son and loyal friend who wants to do right by those he cares for — if only he can find someplace where he fits in.
The first two books in Riordan’s series were previously adapted into feature films that starred Logan Lerman as the title character. Fans of the novels were less than enthused with the films, which aged up the main characters and made several other key changes to the story.
Riordan is more involved in the series, writing the pilot episode with Jon Steinberg (Black Sails, FX’s The Old Man), which James Bobin will direct. Steinberg and producing partner Dan Shotz will oversee the series. All four executive produce along with Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe and The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg.
