‘Percy Jackson’: Alexandra Daddario Comments on Upcoming Disney+ Series
The Percy Jackson fandom is not a fan of the Percy Jackson movies. The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters starred Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, and Brandon T. Jackson as Grover. And despite Rick Riordan’s original series having five books, the movies stopped at two. Riordan has creative control of the upcoming Disney+ series, and fans are excited to see what they feel will be a loyal adaption of the franchise that has Harry Potter-level popularity. But how does the Percy Jackson movies cast feel about the reboot? Daddario shared her feelings in a recent interview.
Why did they stop making ‘Percy Jackson’ movies?
The first Percy Jackson movie did well enough in ticket sales to prompt a sequel. But it was far from an overwhelming box office success. The fantasy series draws plot comparisons to Harry Potter, and the books have an equally impressive readership. But unlike Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone made $1 billion in the box office, and The Lightning Thief made $226.4 million.
The films’ reviews weren’t that great either. They were entertaining enough, if you’ve never read the Percy Jackson books. But if you have, the movie changed the most basic of plot details. And the result was a movie that was discouragingly different from its source material. In fact, Riordan couldn’t watch them. However, PJO readers and Riordan don’t harbor any resentment for the cast. In fact, fans enjoyed Lerman, Daddario, and Jackson’s performances. It was what they had to work with that was criticized.
Interestingly enough, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Lightning Thief had the same director. Chris Columbus was in charge of both films, but Thor Freudenthal directed Sea of Monsters. The sequel, likely assuming there wouldn’t be more movies, combined the plot from Sea of Monsters and The Last Olympian, the fifth and final installment of the original PJO books.
Alexandra Daddario is excited for a new generation of ‘Percy Jackson’ fans
The book’s loyal supporters can’t wait for Riordan and his team to create the adaptation they’ve always wanted. And Riordan said on his blog the Percy Jackson TV series will be worth the wait.
“When this series moves forward (fingers and toes crossed, of course) I am confident it will be the show we’ve been waiting for,” he said. As for Daddario, she’s excited to see the reboot.
“It was such an amazing thing for me and I love the books — it’s been so long since I did those films,” she told the New York Post. “It’s cool to see there’s a new generation of people who will enjoy having a TV series. I’m excited for it.”
The Lightning Thief was one of Daddario’s big breaks, and she clearly looks back on that time fondly. The White Lotus actor told Collider she learned valuable lessons on set, like how watching playback (while a bit taboo) could help hone your craft.
“Now I know it’s not very polite to ask for playback, for example. Directors don’t love when actors are constantly asking to see the scene back, for good reason! Because they don’t want the shot to be judged, they don’t want you to analyze the performance too much. But I would always just wander right up to Chris Columbus and be like, ‘Can I see that back?’ [Laughs] I would never do that now!”
Will Logan Lerman be Poseidon?
While the original Percy Jackson movie cast are too old to play their previous characters, fans are interested in seeing Lerman return as Poseidon, Percy’s father. And Lerman says if Riordan has a role for him, he’d be happy to return. He told Access:
“Yeah, I’m open to anything. I’m curious to see what’s going to happen with it. I’m just glad that Rick Riordan, the writer, is in control. It seems like he’s in control or he has the last say. I’m not sure how much say he had in the Fox productions that we did way back when 10 years ago or so now. I hope that they get good scripts together.”
“I’d be curious to see how it comes along,” he continued. “And if there’s a good role for me, and those things, and I’m right for it, then of course I would consider it. Yeah, that’d be awesome.”
