‘Percy Jackson’ Author & Series Co-Creator Throws Dig at Film: ‘Normalize Bad Movie Erasure’
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians author and series co-creator Rick Riordan pulled no punches when commenting on what will be different in Percy Jackson Episode 6’s Lotus Casino scene as compared to the 2010 movie. “Normalize bad movie erasure,” he wrote on Threads and Instagram on January 16.
The episode debuts tonight, Tuesday, January 16, at 9/8c on Disney+. In it, Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), and Grover (Aryan Simhadri) have made it to the Las Vegas Lotus Casino where they’ll find Hermes (Lin-Manuel Miranda). They’re hoping the god will help them get to Santa Monica in time for Percy to meet his father, Poseidon (Toby Stephens), who told him to meet him there.
They’re also racing to find Zeus’s master bolt and return it to Olympus before the summer solstice in a few days. There’s one catch: time passes differently in the Lotus Casino, and the powerful lotus flowers served at the flashy establishment make its patrons lose their memories.
Disney/David Bukach
In the 2010 film, Lady Gaga‘s “Poker Face” played during the Lotus Casino scene. Leading up to the episode’s release, fans on social media have wondered if there would be a callout to the movie by having “Poker Face” play in the club again. (Time moves differently there, so music from another time period wouldn’t be that odd of an inclusion.) Riordan says that’s an unrealistic idea.
“Can’t wait to visit the Lotus Casino tonight in Percy Jackson 106!” Riordan wrote on Instagram, teasing what’s to come. “Iris-messaging, animals run amok, Hermes and much much more! (Side note: as much as I love Lady Gaga, if some of you seriously think I’d allow any callbacks to certain movies, you haven’t been paying attention for the last decade. The show is its own thing. And [in my opinion] it’s so much better! Normalize Bad Movie Erasure. See you tonight in Vegas, baby!”
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“I’ll just leave this here from over on Threads, where I drop all the real facts,” the author captioned his post. “Can’t wait for tonight when ‘We Take a Zebra to Vegas’!”
There will be a fun needle-drop in the episode, but it clearly will not be “Poker Face.”
Riordan has been extremely vocal about his disapproval of the 2010 and 2013 movie adaptations of his books. In a since-deleted tweet, Riordan compared reading the scripts to seeing his “life’s work going through a meat grinder.” The films changed and cut key parts of the story that Riordan and book fans couldn’t tolerate. The main characters, for example, were 16 years old in the first film instead of being 12 like the book dictates. Ares (Adam “Edge” Copeland), who is part of The Lightning Thief‘s climactic events, isn’t even a character in the first film. Riordan has never seen the movies, refusing to watch them after reading the scripts in which he was not involved in making.
Flash-forward to now, and Riordan is a series co-creator, writer, and executive producer on the Percy Jackson Disney+ series. In addition to a desire to make a good fantasy series, the show’s creators wanted to make the show so that Riordan’s books could have their first truly loyal screen adaptation. It’s succeeded so far on that front, incorporating the book details fans wanted to see and improving on the source material where possible.
One thing that Riordan hasn’t critiqued is the movie’s cast. He never faulted Logan Lerman (Percy), Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth), and Brandon T. Jackson (Grover) for doing what they were hired to do. Before the show’s casting was announced last year, some fans of the movies expressed a desire to have Lerman play Percy’s father, Poseidon. When asked about his interest in being involved in the series, Lerman said he didn’t think it was likely but was happy the series was being made.
Based on Riordan’s latest comments, it seems that casting any of the movie’s leading cast in the new series was never an option for him. See fan reactions to Riordan’s spicy comments below.
“normalize bad movie erasure” THE GASP I LET OUT pic.twitter.com/Oilw8WfFv3
— jenna ౨ৎ ⋆｡˚ ⋆ (@percabcthss) January 16, 2024
Rick has spoken #PercyJackson pic.twitter.com/pPBbDsRxbQ
— Norees Reads (@ReadsToo) January 16, 2024
OHHH HES TAKING SHOTS
— jateku (@jateku09) January 16, 2024
Someone edit the song in idc. The movie made some good choices, sue me.
— Mal (@dancerswhirl) January 16, 2024
Each sentence has me gagging https://t.co/PkKvK5LOBO pic.twitter.com/KmpK3mvJxi
— edwin | PJO era⚔️️ (@wandaIogy) January 16, 2024
“ The show is its own thing. and it’s so much better” pic.twitter.com/C222BdWSwx https://t.co/YUVg8Y2Din
— jules (@Iovrofmine) January 16, 2024
no one hates those movies more than him i’m dead https://t.co/s00pT3BZ1z
— jack (@percyscovey) January 16, 2024
Rick is simultaneously the sweetest seeming guy and also a true hater. He will never let it go and I love it https://t.co/iTRlnElJSz
— shadowblast (@shadowblast423) January 16, 2024
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Disney+
