Which Percy Jackson Adaptation Has a Bigger Budget: The TV Series or The Movies?

Summary:

• The new Percy Jackson TV series premieres this December
• After the frustration that Percy Jackson movies were, Disney 's new series is a silver lining for the fandom
• When it comes to budgets, the TV series goes toe to toe with the old movies — or can be even more expensive

It's a good year to be a Percy Jackson fan: after all these years of having to deal with lackluster and inaccurate movies as the only screen adaptation of the Son of Poseidon's story, the lovers of Rick Riordan's world are rejoicing ahead of the new Disney Plus' project which hits their screens as soon as this December.

As of now, we only have a couple of teasers and posters, but the early promotional material already indicates there's a huge production behind the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series. With Rick Riordan himself as an executive producer, the series promises to be a lot more book-accurate than the movies were; there are even plans for every Percy Jackson book to have its own season.

Just how much exactly did the new Percy Jackson endeavor cost — and is it more expensive than the old movies that starred Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario? Let's find out.

Percy Jackson Movies' Budget

Only two movies about Percy Jackson saw the light of day — The Lightning Thief in 2010, and Sea of Monsters in 2013. Neither of them were a success in terms of fans' reception — the fandom didn't enjoy the fact that the movies messed with the characters' age and looks and strayed too far away from the book canon.

The Lightning Thief had an estimated budget of $95 million, grossing around $227 million worldwide. Sea of Monsters had a smaller budget of $90 million and collected $200.9 million worldwide. What seems like a relative commercial success didn't really work out well enough for the series to receive a third installment.

Critics enjoyed the visuals and the effects, but the plot and the characters of the movies received a lukewarm reception, with die-hard fans straightforwardly rejecting to even accept the movies as canon. Rick Riordan himself admitted he was so disappointed after the movies that he "wrote off Hollywood for a long, long time" — but when Disney approached him with a new offer, he couldn't resist.

How Much Does Percy Jackson and the Olympians Cost?

Variety reported citing sources that Percy Jackson and the Olympians enjoyed a budget of $10 to $15 million per one episode. The first season will have eight episodes, so the budget for the entire chapter lies somewhere between $80 and $120 million.

These figures pretty much rival those of the Percy Jackson movies. Moreover, the Percy Jackson series cost just as much as the Star Wars hit, The Mandalorian, falling a little behind the MCU TV shows which usually have a price tag of around $25 million per episode.

When Will Percy Jackson TV Series Premiere?

Percy Jackson and the Olympians will start telling the story of the titular hero, a 12-year-old boy who discovers he's a son of the Greek god Poseidon, from the very beginning. The first season will cover the events of the book Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

The first chapter will open with two episodes on December 20 on Disney Plus, with new episodes then premiering every Wednesday.

Source: Variety