JAY EBHOMIELEN

It is difficult to discuss film adaptations without mentioning Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief. While the children’s novel is renowned, the movie is regarded as a distasteful adaptation by both fans and Riordan himself. Recently, Disney collaborated with Riordan to create a television adaptation of the entire Percy Jackson series, with the first season covering the first novel, The Lightning Thief. This show improved upon the critiques of both the film and the book. Examining the development of each version of The Lightning Thief reveals where each adaptation both succeeded and failed and gives a glimpse at how collaborative adaptations improve the source material.

The Lightning Thief was first released in 2005 by Miramax Books, then later published by Disney’s Hyperion Books in 2007. Riordan’s inspiration came from his nine-year-old son to whom Riordan told Greek myths as bedtime stories. He remembers that when he ran out of myths to recount, his son still asked for a new one. Riordan went on to say, “The Lightning Thief began as a bedtime story, and my son urged me to write it down. The next thing I knew, I was a children’s author” (Larson). Riordan, who was a middle school English and Social Studies teacher, took the manuscript to a group of his students while also submitting it to his agent and editor. These kids helped pick the title and develop Percy Jackson’s ADHD traits, and one even helped conceptualize Percy’s main weapon, Riptide, a sword disguised as a pen (Rickriordan.com). Percy Jackson’s struggle with ADHD and dyslexia was a trait that existed as early as the first draft, inspired by the real-life difficulties experienced by Riordan’s son.

The novel’s plot takes heavy inspiration from Greek myths and includes popular mythological figures. The setting takes these figures into a modern-day summer camp to make it relatable for younger audiences. Percy’s best friend, Grover, is a satyr assigned to protect him due to his demigod status. Percy gets his quest from the Oracle of Delphi, a notable oracle of Apollo, who stays in the attic of the main cabin of Camp Half-Bood, a camp and sanctuary for demigod children. Percy’s powers responding to Clarisse’s, a daughter of Ares, bullying and pranks hint at Poseidon being his father. Percy spends the latter half of the book battling and outsmarting monsters to get to the Empire State Building, which is the modern gateway to Mount Olympus. The blending of ancient myths and modern setting is what made the novel unique and was only built upon in the sequels by adding more myths and other pantheons.

Upon release, The Lightning Thief received mostly positive reviews, resonating with children as Riordan intended. In the years following the publication, the novel won many awards and ranked ninth on The New York Times Best Seller list for children’s books. While some critics found issues with how much attitude the narration had, fans found Percy’s sarcastic voice humorous and charming. As the sequels were released, a huge fandom grew. Readers found it easy to place themselves in Percy Jackson’s world. As the demigods that attended Camp Half-Blood demonstrated traits of ADHD, dyslexia, and other types of neurodivergence, kids with similar traits saw themselves celebrated. While there was a lot of praise, the novel was not devoid of controversy. There were some concerns around the book’s depiction of Medusa (given the name Aunty Em while covert in New York), who was written as a Middle Eastern woman using modesty robes to cover up her snakes. As she was only featured in one chapter and killed by the end of it, there were questions about whether her ethnicity was important or subtle prejudice. However, the overall reception of this book has placed it as a mainstay in children’s literature, and these decisions have (mostly) been brushed off as antiquated writing and ignorance of the time.

With the popularity of the Percy Jackson book series, a film adaptation of The Lightning Thief was no surprise. Even though the movie came out in 2010, 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights in 2004 before the book even hit shelves. Chris Columbus, known for directing the Home Alone movies as well as the first two Harry Potter films, was invited onto the Percy Jackson project in 2007. He noted that most of the casting was done with sequels in mind, saying in an interview, “…it was a matter of finding the right cast to fit into these roles, sort of the perfect cast for these roles, because hopefully, God willing, we will go on to do other Percy Jackson films and you want the cast to grow with their characters” (Roberts). The film grossed $226.4 million against a $95 million budget. Riordan was consulted for parts of the film, but it is unknown how many of his contributions were honored.

While the film made a lot of money, finishing third at the box office on its opening weekend, audiences didn’t receive it well. The most popular critique was that it was nothing like the books. The movie’s first ten minutes were original material, never seen in the book, and many book scenes and details were cut or changed. Percy does not get claimed by Poseidon as he does in the book and is instead just told of his parentage by everyone around him. There is also no Oracle and no prophecy, which are important plot points throughout the novels. The characters are changed to high school age, and some characters who are introduced in the first book do not appear at all. For example, Annabeth and Percy are on the same side in the book. Their fight during capture the flag originates during the movie, changing the overall plot. The fight was originally against Clarisse, who causes him to fall into the river and regain his strength. Clarisse was not included in the film at all. Medusa’s depiction also became more divisive, while there was no mention of her ethnicity, she was played by Uma Thurman, a white actress, wearing a turban.

While many fans were disappointed in the film adaptation, no one was more upset than Riordan himself. In 2009, Riordan wrote to the producers about issues he had with the script. Riordan’s main issue was the aging up of the characters to seventeen, which diverted the book series’ progression of Percy from twelve to sixteen. This progression ties into the prophecy, as the books lead up to a massive war that Percy fights at sixteen. Because the prophecy was cut, the intended ages were deemed unnecessary. Ironically, this made it more difficult to plan for sequels, as it was difficult to pass the already-adult actors as teenagers as they age. Riordan also had issues with the general diversion to the source material, stating, “the script as a whole is terrible. I don’t simply mean that it deviates from the book, though certainly it does that to point of being almost unrecognizable as the same story […] But the bigger problem is that even if you pretend the book doesn’t exist, this script doesn’t work as a story in its own right” (Riordan). Riordan did not hear back from the producers; he publicly released the letters on his blog in 2018.

Most of Riordan’s response to the movie was contained to the web, and for many years he was put off and uncertain about a reboot. This changed in 2020 when Riordan approached Disney with a pitch for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series, which was released in 2023 on Disney+. He was heavily involved in the production, especially the casting process for the series. Cast members were announced from mid-2022 until early 2023, starting with Walker Scobell being announced as Percy Jackson in January 2022. Planning for this project was extensive, as they intended to turn each book into a season of the show. Riordan and co-showrunner Jonathan E. Steinberg created a series “Bible,” an extensive guide to the characters, settings, and other important information that showrunners might reference during production (Riordan).

A big improvement from the films was that the television show is book accurate. Vital scenes, like Percy being claimed as the son of Poseidon and him receiving his quest from the Oracle, were brought back. Episodes were even named after some of the book chapters’ titles. Additionally, the series remedied the novel’s diversity issue. On top of casting Leah Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri, a black actress and an actor of South Asian descent, as Annabeth and Grover, characters who were described to be white in the novel. Medusa’s character was also reworked. Leah Jeffries’ casting was contested, especially since there hadn’t been a book-faithful Annabeth casting yet. Annabeth is depicted as a blonde with grey eyes in the books; she was given brown hair in the movies.  However, Medusa’s changes were celebrated. She is no longer of Middle Eastern descent and hides her eyes underneath a hat rather than modesty robes. They also give her character more focus and nuance in the episode, having her tell the original myth of Medusa to the trio and then impart a warning about the gods.

The critiques of the movie also heavily influenced the TV series’ development. The pressure of being book-accurate came from how different the film version was. The TV series’ main cast was comprised of 13–14-year-olds, while the film worked with older actors out of convenience. The cast was designed around the same idea as the movies, to keep the same cast throughout every sequel, but rejected the method of aging them up. This has the effect of growing up with Percy Jackson, as the characters age similarly to the book characters. It’s tough to say if this adherence to the source material would have been as emphasized if there wasn’t a fear of the film’s failure impacting the series. Throughout the many blog posts Riordan wrote to fans throughout the series’ development, many include a promise to adhere to the source material and collaborate with those who are like-minded in that process. Without the failure of the movie, Riordan would have never gathered the motivation to appeal for a second adaptation and ask for immense amounts of creative control. If the movie had been a successful adaptation without Riordan’s input being honored, then there wouldn’t have been any need to create the TV series. The series gave the fans the faithful adaptation they craved while proving to the film creators that the best way to adapt the book series was to simply follow it faithfully.

The reception to the series was overwhelmingly positive. Viewership was high, with each episode garnering over 10 million views during their first week of release. In May 2024, the series had amassed 23.3% of Disney+’s total audience viewership (Variety). Critics also approved of the series, and much of the praise went to the casting, performances, and faithful interpretation of the source material. The show itself, along with its cast and crew, received many awards nominations, winning Series of the Year and Best Action/Adventure Series in the Brazilian Séries em Cena Awards. Aramide Tinubu best summarizes the reception in his Variety review, stating, “The series depicts a genuinely inclusive world, showcasing storylines and characters that will captivate fans for the next decade. At long last, Riordan’s work has been given the extensive visual adaptation it deserves.”

The Lightning Thief has gone through many changes in its different adaptations. Some adaptations have been an improvement on the source material, while others have rendered the material barely recognizable. While the movie is not regarded in a positive light, it was a necessary step towards a faithful visual adaptation. This step allowed for a television series that does its best to fill the holes that Chris Columbus and Rick Riordan left in the development of the film and novel.

Works Cited

Holub, Christian. “Rick Riordan Slams Percy Jackson Movies as ‘My Life’s Work Goingthrough a Meat Grinder.’” EW.Com, Entertainment Weekly, 8 June 2020, ew.com/movies/rick-riordan-slams-original-percy-jackson-movies/.

Larson, Jeanette. “Talking with Rick Riordan.” ALA, American Library Association, May 2009,www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/resources/riordan.

“‘Lightning Thief’ Strikes Maverick.” “Lightning Thief” Strikes Maverick – Entertainment

“Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” Box Office Mojo, IMDb, www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl191399425/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.

“Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 12 Feb. 2010, www.imdb.com/title/tt0814255/.

“Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 19 Dec. 2023, www.imdb.com/title/tt12324366/.

Riordan, Rick. “About Rick Riordan: Rick Riordan.” Rick Riordan | Welcome to the Online World of Rick Riordan, 5 Oct. 2023, rickriordan.com/about/.

Riordan, Rick. “An Interview with Rick: Rick Riordan.” Rick Riordan | Welcome to the Online World of Rick Riordan, 7 Oct. 2022, rickriordan.com/about/an-interview-with-rick/.

Riordan, Rick. “MEMORIES FROM MY TV/Movie Experience: Rick Riordan.” Rick Riordan | Welcome to the Online World of Rick Riordan, 16 Nov. 2018, web.archive.org/web/20240201030538/https://rickriordan.com/2018/11/memories-from-my-tv-movie-experience/.

Riordan, Rick. “Vroom, Vroom in the Writers’ Room: Rick Riordan.” Rick Riordan | Welcome to the Online World of Rick Riordan, rickriordan.com, 14 July 2021, web.archive.org/web/20210715012956/https://rickriordan.com/2021/07/vroom-vroom-in-the-writers-room/.

Roberts, Sheila. “Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief: Exclusive Interview!” Roll Credits

RSS, Roll Credits, 8 Feb. 2010, web.archive.org/web/20100214184440/www.rollcreditsonline.com/component/content/article/34-highlights/681-percy-jackson-lighting-thief-chris-columbus-exclusive-interview.html.

Sharf, Zack. “‘Percy Jackson’ Author Warned Producers about Terrible Script in Scathing Emails.” IndieWire, IndieWire, 3 Jan. 2019, www.indiewire.com/features/general/percy-jackson-author-rick-riordin-emails-trashing-film-script-1202022110/.

Tinubu, Aramide. “Disney+’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Is a Riveting and Stunning: TV Review.” Variety, Variety, 14 Dec. 2023, variety.com/2023/tv/reviews/percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-review-disney-plus-1235835010/.