Disney has cast the title character in the highly anticipated film Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series. Walker Scobell from Netflix The Adam Project will play the 12-year-old demigod in the Disney Plus series. Author Rick Riordan wrote a blog post on his websiteCasting Announcement.
“Aside from being a rising star, Walker is also a superfan of the books, having read everything up to The Trials of Apollo,” Riordan wrote.
Logan Lerman previously portrayed the character in the film adaptation – much to the disappointment of fans. In the books, Percy is 12 years old and the series follows him as he grows up. The film adaptation aged the character to 16 years. Riordan has been open about his complaints about the film, particularly when it came to aging the characters.
Set in a world where all Greek myths are true, the best-selling mid-range series focuses on the semi-divine children of Greek gods and goddesses, all of whom attend a summer camp called Camp Half-Blood. The first series focused on Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover. The first sequel brought elements of Roman mythology into the world, and some spin-off series explored Egyptian and Norse mythology. There is also another sequel to Percy Jackson’s main books called Trials of Apollo.
Unlike the film adaptation, Riordan will be heavily involved in the Disney Plus adaptation. He is co-writing the pilot with Jon Steinberg. directed by James Bobin. Filming begins this summer in Vancouver.