DISNEY+ HAS ORDERED A THRILLING QUEST BASED ON
“PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS,”
THE INTERNATIONALLY BEST-SELLING BOOK SERIES BY RICK RIORDAN,
TO GO INTO PRODUCTION THIS SUMMER
Riordan and Jon Steinberg Will Write the Pilot with James Bobin Directing; All Three Serve As Executive Producers on the Disney Branded Television Series From 20th Television
BURBANK, Calif. (January 25, 2022) – Disney+ has ordered “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” an epic adventure series based on—and closely aligned with—Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan with more than 180 million books in print globally. Riordan and Jon Steinberg (“Black Sails,” FX’s upcoming “The Old Man”) will write the pilot with James Bobin (“The Mysterious Benedict Society,” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”) directing. Steinberg will oversee the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. Steinberg and Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe and Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg. The Disney Branded Television series is produced by 20th Television. Casting is underway.
Rick Riordan announced it today in a message on Disney+’s social media.
Geared towards a general audience and especially tweens, teens, and young adults, the live action series tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.
Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said, “With Rick Riordan, Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz leading our creative team, we’re deep into creating a compelling TV series worthy of the heroic mythological characters that millions of Percy Jackson readers know are well-worth caring about, and we’re eager to invite Disney+ audiences into stories that are true to the blockbuster franchise and full of anticipation, humor, surprise, and mystery.”
Added 20th Television President Karey Burke, “Bringing Rick Riordan’s brilliant Percy Jackson books to Disney+ as a television series has been a mission for so many of us at this company as well as for Rick himself, and Jon, Dan, James and the excellent team they have assembled have proven to be the perfect collaborators. Thanks to our friends at Disney Branded Television led by Ayo, and Disney Streaming led by Michael, this will be an adaptation for the ages, with all the excitement, action and mythology fans of the books expect and love.”
“The opportunity to deliver a new fantastical series based on the bestselling book franchise to audiences around the world is thrilling and we look forward to what our partners at 20th Television, Disney Branded Television and the ingenious Rick Riordan have in store for demigods everywhere.” said Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming.
A former teacher turned best-selling author, Riordan has a spectacular record of success and is the #1 author at Disney Hyperion. In 2016, he and Disney Hyperion launched the Rick Riordan Presents imprint with the ongoing goal to find, nurture, and promote diverse and under-represented authors of mythology-based fiction for middle grade readers.
Jon Steinberg is currently the co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of “The Old Man,” a new series for FX on HULU slated to air in 2022. Steinberg and his longtime producing partner Dan Shotz signed an overall deal with 20th TV in 2019 to create, develop and oversee series for Disney. Prior to that, Steinberg co-created and executive-produced “Black Sails” for its 4 season run on STARZ, which won 3 primetime Emmy Awards. Steinberg was also the executive producer of “See” for Apple TV+ and was the creator and executive producer of “Human Target” for FOX, which he developed along with DC Comics. The first series Steinberg co-created was cult-favorite “Jericho” for CBS.
James Bobin is a director, writer, and producer who most recently served as director and executive producer on “The Mysterious Benedict Society” for Disney+. He also directed the feature film “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” for Paramount. He is best known for resurrecting the Muppets franchise, directing “The Muppets” starring Amy Adams and Jason Segel, which was an international sensation and spurred a sequel, “Muppets Most Wanted,” which Bobin also directed. In television, he is well known for his work as writer/directed on “Da Ali G Show,” on which he helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat, and Brüno, and for co-creating and directing the HBO show, “Flight of the Conchords.” He also directed Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter in “Alice Through The Looking Glass” for Joe Roth and Disney.
About Disney+
Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, along with The Simpsons and much more. In select international markets, it also includes the new general entertainment content brand, Star. The flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, Disney+ is part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution segment. The service offers commercial-free streaming alongside an ever-growing collection of exclusive originals, including feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content. With unprecedented access to Disney’s long history of incredible film and television entertainment, Disney+ is also the exclusive streaming home for the newest releases from The Walt Disney Studios. Disney+ is available as a standalone streaming service or as part of The Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. For more, visit disneyplus.com, or find the Disney+ app on most mobile and connected TV devices.
About Disney Branded Television
Disney Branded Television encompasses the creative storytellers and production and content marketing teams responsible for Disney-branded television series, movies and other programming spanning live-action, animated and unscripted formats. The group fuels the Disney+ streaming platform and Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior linear networks with content geared toward kids, tweens, teens and families, with stories that are imaginative, aspirational and reflective of their world and experiences. Recent projects include “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” “Monsters at Work,” “The Mysterious Benedict Society” and “Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends.” Disney Branded Television has created some of the most iconic and award-winning properties and franchises, including Peabody Award winners “Doc McStuffins” and “The Owl House”; Emmy Award winners “Big City Greens” and “Elena of Avalor”; the beloved “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts plus the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) franchise, comprised of more than 100 titles.
About 20th Television:
One of the Disney Television Studios, 20th Television is a prolific supplier of entertainment programming, including Hulu’s most watched comedy ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING from Dan Fogelman, John Hoffman and Steve Martin and its critically acclaimed drama DOPESICK from Danny Strong and starring Michael Keaton; ABC’s new comedy hit THE WONDER YEARS from Saladin Patterson and Fred Savage; FX’s star-studded IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY from Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Sarah Burgess; NBC’s top series THIS IS US from Dan Fogelman; Fox’s No. 1 drama, 9-1-1 and its spinoff 9-1-1: LONE STAR from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear; FX’s No. 1 series AMERICAN HORROR STORY from Ryan Murphy, in addition to dozens of others. 20th Television shows have amassed a collective 1867 Emmy nominations and 214 Emmy wins, as well as multiple Golden Globes, Humanitas Prizes and Peabody Awards. The studio’s landmark series from its 70 year library include such classics as BATMAN, MODERN FAMILY, M*A*S*H, GLEE, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, BONES, EMPIRE, FRESH OFF THE BOAT, 24, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, NEW GIRL and THE X-FILES.
