When The Walt Disney Company launched Disney+ in November 2019, millions of Disney fans were excited to have their favorite films and television shows all in one place. Just four months after the streaming service began, the world shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made even more people sign up. Before long, Disney+ had more than 100 million subscribers and was launching the service in many other countries.
Unfortunately, the excitement around Disney+ has dwindled. With the multiple price hikes and the purging of content, Disney+ is constantly losing subscribers. In the last quarter alone, Disney+ lost an estimated 11 million subscribers. Disney CEO Bob Iger has admitted that the streamer is struggling, and Disney is being much pickier with what content they choose to produce. Disney has canceled a number of Disney+ shows after just one season, including National Treasure: Edge of History, Turner & Hooch, and Willow.
Despite the Disney+ struggle, the company is still intent on creating new shows that people will love. One of those series is based on the popular book series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians. The new series will tell the story of Percy Jackson, a young boy who learns that he is a demigod and the son of Poseidon. As Percy is learning to come to terms with his power, Zeus accuses Percy of stealing his master lightning bolt.
The Percy Jackson series was announced a few years ago and officially received the green light from Disney in January 2022. It’s been more than a year and a half since that, and the show’s release is finally on the horizon! On August 18 — Percy Jackson’s birthday — Disney gave fans some exciting news.
According to a new post from Disney, Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be released on Disney+ on December 20, 2023. But that’s not all. Disney also released a teaser trailer! Check it out below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0HytQwrw8
Walker Scobell will be playing the titular demigod. Leah Sava Jeffries will play Annabeth Chase. Annabeth is one of Percy’s best friends and the daughter of the goddess Athena. Aryan Simhadri will be playing Percy’s other best friend — Grover Underwood, a satyr (half human, half goat) disguised as a 12-year-old boy. Both will help Percy as he learns to properly use his powers at Camp Half-Blood. Zeus will be played by Lance Reddick, who passed away this past March at the age of 60.
There are also two films based on the book series, but Percy Jackson author, Rick Riordan, was not involved. However, Disney decided to take a different track, and Riordan was heavily involved with the series. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Riordan said that the series will stay true to the source material.
“One thing that we all agreed on was that we should do everything we could to preserve what makes Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson. That’s a combination of modern-day setting, classical mythology, action, and humor. One of the ways that that manifested is making sure that we found actors who were an age that was appropriate for the way Percy is at the beginning of the books, so that viewers could watch Percy and Annabeth and Grover grow up on the screen, the way that you read about them growing up from age 12 to 16 in the five books. I’m certainly gratified that we did it that way, because the young actors that we found are fantastic.”
Hamilton star and creator Lin Manuel Miranda will also be a part of the series. Miranda announced his casting back in November, and revealed that he will be playing Hermes — the God of Thieves.
Disney fans can watch Miranda’s work in a number of Disney+ projects, including Hamilton, Moana, and Encanto. The incredibly talented Miranda also wrote some of the music for Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid, which will come to Disney+ on September 6.
