The famous saga even won two movie adaptations, which were not well accepted by fans — let alone by the author. Understand!
The new series inspired by the famous Percy Jackson book saga is already in production on Disney+ and recently won the actor who will be responsible for bringing Percy to life on streaming: the star of Project Adam, Walker Scobell.
However, this will not be the first adaptation of the story written by Rick Riordan. In 2010 and 2013, the franchise won two movies released in theaters, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, which failed to please the public — or the author. But why did the movies go wrong?
Since the first release, the films received harsh criticism from fans, who accused the productions of not being faithful to the books, causing confusion of concepts, excluding important events, changing the striking personality of some characters, in addition to erasing some important names for the plots. .
Another point much criticized by lovers of Percy Jackson’s books is the age of the actors who played the classic characters. For example: Logan Lerman, the actor responsible for bringing Percy to life, was 21 years old in the second film. In the original story, the character has only 16.
Statement by Rick Riordan
But the strong criticism of the films did not stop there. Years after the launch of the productions, Rick spoke through his official website giving his opinion on the feature films – which did not count on his participation at any time.
In the year 2016, in a long letter, the author asks that teachers around the world not show Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters in the classroom, as they have “no educational value”. ”.
“Dear teacher, Hello! I am so grateful that you are teaching your children Greek mythology and perhaps reading my books with them. I hope this is going well! […] Now a request: Please, for the love of multiple intelligences, DO NOT play those ‘Percy Jackson’ movies (the quotes are intentionally ironic) in your classroom for a comparison-contrast class or, Gods forbid, as a ‘reward’ for the end of the course. No group of students deserves to be exposed to this kind of mind-numbing punishment. Films have no educational value. You’d be better off using your class time to… Well, pretty much anything, including staring at the clock for fifty minutes or taking the day to clean out the lockers,” Riordan said.
Through the same post, the writer also says that movies like Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts and Hercules are much better to pass the time than “those uninteresting adaptations of Percy Jackson”. “I hope you will consider the appeal of this writer. Kids don’t need you to use class time to teach them that movies can be really, really bad. They will figure it out on their own!”, he finished.
In the year 2018, Rick returned to comment on its website, this time commenting in detail on the two films, in addition to talking a little more about their involvement in the productions, while talking about a possible reboot.
“The author may or may not be consulted, but the film people have the final word on everything. there is a myth [risos] that authors have much greater control over film decisions than they actually do. Even the most powerful writers (yes, the ones you’re thinking of right now) have MUCH less influence and control than you think they do. Nobody talks about it much, because when a movie is about to be released, the studio is interested in making it LOOK like everyone is very involved and happy with the final product.”
Furthermore, Riordan also vents saying that, at the time, he sent feedback in order to try to help but that, in the end, he ended up walking away to preserve his mental health.
“I did my best to give feedback that would help. As I’ve said many other times, once I read the final script and saw what they were doing on set, I understood that I had to step aside for the sake of my mental health. I’ve never watched any of the movies in their final forms. What I know of them, and the way I judge them, is entirely based on my experience with the producers and the final scripts.”
Finishing all his analysis, the author says: “The script as a whole is terrible. I’m not just referring to the way it is different from the book, although it does so to the point of being almost unrecognizable as the same story as the book. fans of the books will be angry and disappointed, they will make theaters furious and they will give bad word of mouth. […] The biggest problem is that even if you pretend the book doesn’t exist, the script doesn’t work as a story on its own.”
Source: Recreio
