Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson
Credit: Disney+Disney+ has been struggling for the last trying to maintain its subscribers while also trying to make the streaming platform profitable amidst other losses that The Walt Disney Company has been facing. With the release of the latest original series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, it seems as though it may have found a way to reach the success it’s been striving for for so long.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a new Disney+ series based on the book series of the same name by Rick Riordan. This is not the first adaptation of the novels, as 20th Century Fox (now known as 20th Century Studios under the Disney umbrella) released Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters in 2010 and 2013, respectively. The series starred Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, and Brandon T. Jackson as Percy’s best friend Grover.
Unfortunately, the films were met with a lackluster reception and did not perform very well, resulting in no other Percy Jackson adaptations for almost a decade. However, it seems as though Disney may have found the magic touch with its new series, as it’s been revealed by Variety that the first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians racked up 13.3 million viewers in its first week on Disney+. This makes it one of the top five most-watched series in 2023, ranking up there with Loki Season 2 and Ahsoka.
For comparison, Loki’s highly anticipated second season reached almost 11 million viewers in its first three days while Ahsoka brought in roughly 14 million. For a show like Percy Jackson, which is adapted from a book series but technically has no prior Disney connection to spin off from, it’s a major feat to be ranking up there with the aforementioned shows, which feature characters introduced in other already-successful projects.
The Disney+ Percy Jackson series stars Walker Scobell as Percy, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. According to the Disney+ description, “Percy Jackson is on a dangerous quest. Outrunning monsters and outwitting gods, he must journey across America to return Zeus’ master bolt and stop an all-out war. With the help of his quest mates Annabeth and Grover, Percy’s journey will lead him closer to the answers he seeks: how to fit into a world where he feels out of place, and find out who he’s destined to be.”
Not only did the show reach the top five viewers, but it also holds the title of number one Disney Branded Television premiere of all time, a division that includes series like High School Musical: The Musical and The Santa Clauses. In contrast, other series that were released this year, such as Willow, were quickly canceled after a disappointing response from viewers and swiftly removed from the streaming platform entirely. With the success that Percy Jackson and the Olympians has seen so far, it’s possible that Disney+ has found an all-new franchise to expand upon as well as a potential saving grace it desperately needs.
As Disney fans have started to express discontent with the company’s entertainment side, complaining of everything from “Marvel/superhero fatigue” to “Star Wars fatigue” to a general “Disney fatigue,” this shift to a fantasy series aimed at a younger audience while drawing in older viewers who grew up reading the novels could turn things around for the streamer. So far, three of the eight episodes have been released for Season 1, which is now available to watch on Disney+.
Have you seen Percy Jackson and the Olympians? What do you think of it so far?