Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

9/2/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Erica Cerra takes to the big screen in her next project, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.  Directed by Harry Potter veteran Chris Columbus, the film is a fantasy based on the first book in Rick Riordan's popular series. In the story, a young modern-day boy named Percy Jackson learns that he's the half-human/half-god son of Poseidon and embarks on a journey of adventure and self-discovery that also involves warring gods. Cerra plays Hera, the goddess of marriage and wife of Zeus, the god of lightning.  "I'm a big Harry Potter fan," said Cerra. "I have all the books. I've seen all the movies a billion and one times. When I heard what Percy Jackson was about I read it and pushed, pushed, pushed to be in the movie. So I was absolutely thrilled when I got a role, and then I was sitting in a room with Sean Bean and Kevin McKidd and Melina Kanakaredes, who plays Athena. It was a wonderful experience, and I'm a very big fan of Chris Columbus, so that was really cool as well. In the novels, in the other stories, Hera and Zeus show up to help Percy, so hopefully they will also in the sequel scripts."  Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opens nationwide on Feb. 12, 2010.

8/11/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Kevin McKidd said he signed on to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, in which he plays the Greek god Poseidon.  "My son, since I started doing it, he's read the first three books," McKidd said. "I'm watching him read the book, and I'm like, 'So, Joseph, am I in this one much?' He's like, 'Nah, nah, you're not. Maybe in the next one, but in this one not so much.'"  In the movie, based on Rick Riordan novels, young Percy Jackson discovers he is a descendant of the Greek gods and goes on mythological adventures in modern-day settings. McKidd added that he is signed for four of the anticipated five films in the series, as much as they feature Poseidon.  "I'm 40 feet tall for most of the film, but then we come to human form," McKidd continued. "We can atomize ourselves because we're gods. We can do what we want, right? So we can atomize ourselves and walk around the streets of Manhattan, wandering Manhattan, and dress in Gap clothing and do all that stuff, then atomize ourselves back to 40-foot Greek god stage. It's a really fun film."  Effects work is still underway, so there has not been a cut to screen for actors yet, but McKidd has heard early reports. "I know Chris Columbus saw a cut," McKidd said. "He saw an early cut of it without the effects laid on yet. There's a lot of effects in it, and he's very excited about it. I think it's going to be really cool. My kids are really excited about Percy Jackson."  Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opens Feb. 12, 2010.

6/29/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Chris Columbus is directing a film adaptation of Rick Riordan's first Percy Jackson & the Olympians novel, The Lightning Thief, a 21st-century take on Greek mythology.  In Columbus' movie, Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is a boarding school kid sent to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods. From there he has adventures with gods and creatures of Greek myth in the present day.  "Percy Jackson's a very serious movie," Columbus said. "It's comedic, but it's only comedic in a way that an Indiana Jones movie can be comedic. So I think in terms of comparing it to something like Clash of the Titans, it is more of an Indiana Jones-meets-Greek-mythology, as opposed to a pure period-piece Greek myth, Clash of the Titans."  Columbus has taken some liberties with the source material: Maybe not every sequence from the book is in the movie, but maybe he came up with some better ideas. "Just some of the creatures have been changed," Columbus said. "We have sort of a breathtaking hydra sequence that replaces a sequence that used to take place at the Seattle Arch. Our version of Hades is a little different. There are other changes here and there. Camp Half-Blood is a lot more dangerous, a lot more serious than it was in the book."  Columbus has also cast Uma Thurman as Medusa. On the set, Thurman wore a blue skullcap painted with dots for computer-graphics artists to add her hair of snakes in post-production.  "Well, Medusa has to be extremely seductive so she can get people to open their eyes and look into her eyes," Columbus said. "So she is a combination of one of the most frightening creatures I've ever seen on screen yet with a very seductive voice."  Fox plans to release Percy Jackson & The Olympians in theaters on Feb. 12, 2010.

5/7/09 - Rosario Dawson and Steve Coogan have joined the cast of Fox 2000's Greek mythology-infused fantasy adventure movie Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

4/16/09 - The Hollywood Reporter says that Catherine Keener has joined the cast of Fox 2000's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Christopher Columbus' adaptation of Rick Riordan's fantasy-adventure book series.

3/26/09 - Fox 2000 has assembled a cast for the fantasy adventure Percy Jackson, including Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean, who have signed on to play Medusa, Chiron and Zeus, respectively, Variety reported.  Kevin McKidd (Poseidon) and Melina Kanakerides (Athena) are also joining the cast of the Chris Columbus-helmed movie.  The studio is still looking to fill the roles of Aries, Hades and Persephone. Logan Lerman and Brandon Jackson have already signed on to star.  The story centers on Poseidon's 12-year-old half-human son (Lerman), who embarks on a quest across modern-day America to save his mother, return Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and prevent a deadly war between the gods.  Shooting begins next month in Vancouver, Canada, with the studio setting a February 2010 release date.

3/3/09 - Logan Lerman and Brandon T. Jackson have landed the leading roles in Fox 2000's adventure fantasy film Percy Jackson, Variety reported.  Chris Columbus will helm the movie, about a schoolboy whose world is turned upside down when he discovers that his father is actually the Greek god Poseidon.  The story kicks off with Percy's becoming the prime suspect when Zeus' master lightning bolt is stolen. The boy has just 10 days to find and return the stolen property to bring peace to the warring gods.  Jackson will play Percy's best friend, Grover, a satyr.

AlienAlmanac.com  -  Living Among You Since 2004