One of the most infamous fantasy franchises of all time is officially taking over the streaming charts. The Percy Jackson movies are both sensations on Netflix’s domestic charts.
According to FlixPatrol, 2010’s Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is Netflix’s No. 3 most-watched movie in the United States. Its 2013 sequel, Sea of Monsters, isn’t far behind at No. 4. This comes just one day after the pair of films arrived on Netflix, making impressive debuts in the platform’s Top 10.
The Percy Jackson Were Massive Disappointments
While the Percy Jackson movies are performing well on Netflix now, they weren’t well-received when they first came out. Fans of Rick Riordan’s original Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series were livid at the movies’ many changes to the source material. The films were largely negatively received by critics as well, earning a 48% and a 43% score on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.
Because of the negative reception from both critics and fans, the Percy Jackson film franchise didn’t come close to completing its adaptation of Riordan’s five-book saga. The Lightning Thief performed well with a $226 million worldwide haul. Sea of Monsters saw somewhat diminishing returns with just over $200 million. While neither film was a box office flop, it was clear after the second installment that interest was waning in the franchise. A third film never came to fruition, but the franchise still lives on.
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians Show Is Much Better Than the Movies
Years after the incredible disappointment of the Percy Jackson movies, the franchise returned with a new (and much better) reboot. In 2023, Disney+ premiered Percy Jackson & the Olympians, which stars Walker Scobell as the titular demigod. The series has been largely well-received by critics and fans, helping repair some of the damage from the movie.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians has aired two seasons so far, adapting The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters. A third season is slated to premiere later this year, marking the first live-action adaptation of The Titan’s Curse. While the show hasn’t been renewed for a fourth season yet, the general consensus is that it will get to adapt all five books in Rick Riordan’s original series.
On the literature front, the Percy Jackson franchise is still expanding. This year, Riordan debuts a brand-new spin-off series, Camp Half-Blood, which will include contributions from four new authors. Also on the horizon is the third and final entry of The Senior Year Chronicles, which concludes Percy Jackson’s adventures, at least for the time being.
The Percy Jackson movies are available to stream on Netflix.
- Cast
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Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Virginia Kull, Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel
- Created by
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Rick Riordan
- First Episode Air Date
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December 19, 2023