Rick Riordan, who is the author of the Percy Jackson book series, has been providing fans updates on his blog regarding the “Percy Jackson & The Olympians” Disney+ series. Last we heard, Riordan wrote that the writer’s room was working on outlines of the scripts and gave his own estimates of a production timeline. Now the author has shared that the series has added “The Muppets”‘ director James Bobin for the pilot episode. You can see the excerpt from his blog below:
The casting department started gearing up again this week, though I don’t yet have any contact information on open casting to share with you yet. As soon as I do, I will. The general casting call information for the talent agencies has already been shared on social media, however (Becky informs me) and includes some basic information which I can confirm: the plan is to film in Vancouver (again, assuming all goes as planned, which I think it will) and our pilot director will be James Bobin, who is both a terrific person and an incredibly talented director who checks all the boxes we were hoping for in a partner. He recently directed the pilot for Mysterious Benedict Society, which I loved and found very true to the source material, and he has worked on everything from creating Borat and Ali G with Sacha Baron Cohen to Flight of the Conchords to Muppets to Dora and the Lost City of Gold (which the Riordans found an incredibly fun adaptation of our beloved Dora the Explorer cartoon from the kids’ childhood.) James knows the Percy books well. His kids are fans. His humor is wonderful. We are in good hands, demigods, and lucky to have him joining our team. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes the way we expect!
Riordan also states they are looking into using similar technology to the “Volume” stage where “The Mandalorian is filmed and gives his updated estimated production timeline when the series is officially greenlit. You can read his entire post here.
The writer’s room began back in July when it was announced that Jonathan E. Steinberg, who is also a writer on the series, and Dan Shotz (Black Sails, Jericho) are on board as showrunners.
Additional writers include Daphne Olive, who has worked with Steinberg and Shots on Black Sails, Monica Owusu-Breen (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alias), and Joe Tracz (A Series of Unfortunate Events). Also part of the mix of assistants are Xavier Stiles (Hemlock Grove), Zoë Neary (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency), and Stewart Strandberg (The Old Man).
Once the series is greenlit, production and casting will begin soon after.
The Percy Jackson series is set to follow the storyline of the five books starting with The Lightening Thief which centers around a teenager who discovers that he is a descendent of a Greek God. The series will then take on a new book for every season.
A release date has not been announced yet, but Season 1 which will consist of 8 episodes, is expected to debut on Disney+ sometime in 2023.
Source: Rick Riordan Blog
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