Percy Jackson producers defend making “a million changes” from the books

Two executive producers of the Disney+ Percy Jackson & The Olympians series broke down why the new show has multiple changes from the books and defended these choices.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians is currently airing on Disney+. The new TV series is yet another adaptation of the beloved book series. However, the show is already shaping up to be a much closer reimagining of Rick Riordan’s series.

Percy Jackson follows a band of young Greek demi-gods, children who were born with the power of the Greek gods. The first season of the show follows the first book in the series, with the plan to adapt all five books over the course of multiple seasons.

And while this new TV series is off to a good start when it comes to following the structure of the books, fans of the franchise have taken to social media to point out some glaring differences. From Medusa’s role in episode 3 of the show to the backstories of other main characters, the TV show is already heading into new territory.

However, in a new interview with The Direct, executive producers Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz defended these changes while also pointing out while there may be “millions” they are only small.

Steinberg began by stating that while there are “a million changes, you hope that almost all of them are invisible. These are very different mediums, and I think they tell stories differently,” he explained. “And so I think you have to embrace the idea that everything in the book is going to have to find a different form to inhabit in order to be something I’d want to watch on screen.”

The executive producer then added that these changes are at times simply due to the different medium with which they are working.

“So sometimes it’s sequencing, it’s causation, it’s the way set pieces play out is a little different, but it makes it work better. Some of it is bigger, some of them, frankly, are things that I think Rick was excited about getting a second go at. He wrote that book 20 some odd years ago, and you don’t get a second draft… And I think it was exciting and fun for him to sit in conversation about, ‘Alright, let’s rip the lid off this thing again.'”

Despite these changes, Shotz revealed that Disney was always committed to working with author Rick Riordan and was aware of how special the Percy Jackson world is to fans.

“Disney was just from day one, just like as each step happened, [they were] always having a conversation. So as we were building this, from how we were shooting it, where we were shooting it, who we were casting, where we were going, what it needed. It was always a really good conversation to make sure that the show needed what it needed,” Shotz said. 

“I’m really grateful to them for that because that doesn’t happen very often. And everybody knew that this was such a special property that we needed to do it right.”

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