Turns Out Rick Riordan and Disney Had a Sneaky Deal on Percy Jackson
After decades of waiting for a new Percy Jackson book, fans got what they wanted... and it looks like it was a secret plan all along.
Having announced that a brand new Percy Jackson POV novel will come out in 2023, titled Chalice of the Gods, Rick Riordan has revealed a surprising fact. It turns out that if it wasn't for the upcoming Disney Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV show, fans could have been left without a new Son of Poseidon book whatsoever.
Now that both the show and the book are confirmed to be in development, Riordan has revealed a deal between him and Disney that may have gone completely wrong if something did not work out.
"Back in 2019, when we were beginning to explore the idea of a new Percy Jackson adaption, I pitched an idea to Disney that I hoped might convince them to move things along. If they'd help me get a live-action series off the ground, I would be willing to write a new Percy Jackson novel, or even several, which Disney Publishing could release when the show came out," the author wrote in his blog.
The latest Percy Jackson book came out in 2009, titled The Last Olympian. Since then, Riordan continued to explore the world of demigods, but rather with new characters instead of bringing the golden trio of Percy, Annabeth and Grover back. Naturally, fans wanted them back for all these years.
"For years, I resisted doing this because I was having too much fun writing from other points of view, expanding Percy's world through other characters. Over a decade later, however, I figured such a book would not only be fun to write once again — it would promote the show and vice versa. Everybody would win!" Riordan said.
Even though some fans gasped after knowing this, it's kind of okay because the plan did turn out to be a win-win. Disney Plus is actively shooting season 1 of the Percy Jackson TV show, and a new book about the golden trio will come out in September 2023. According to Riordan, Chalice of the Gods is going to follow Percy, Annabeth and Grover as they are trying to get into university, and in order to do that, they need to collect recommendation letters from gods. The only way to do this is, of course, to go on quests.
Just like Riordan noted himself, 2023 is shaping up to be a great year for Percy Jackson as well as his fans. Not only does the Disney Plus show come out, but also there is a new Nico di Angelo adventure The Sun and the Star, as well as the long-anticipated Percy Jackson sequel.
The news quickly prompted celebration among the Percy Jackson fans, who are indeed "winning" this year, as well as the next one. Percy Jackson and the Olympians does not have a premiere date yet, but it is scheduled to hit small screens at some point in 2023.