Adam Project’s Walker Scobell to star in Disney Plus’ Percy Jackson series
Disney Plus’ upcoming adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians has finally found its lead actor.
In a recent blog, author Rick Riordan announced that Walker Scobell, who recently made his film debut in Netflix’s The Adam Project opposite Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, and Zoe Saldaña, is set to play the titular role of Percy in the much-awaited series adaptation.
“Walker Scobell is an incredibly talented young man who blew us away with his audition tapes for the role of Percy,” Riordan said in a statement. “Many of you recently discovered how great Walker is when you watched his movie The Adam Project, in which Walker lit up the screen as a younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character.”
Riordan shared that they decided to cast Scobell as he “had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark and heroism to embody our hero Percy Jackson."
The live-action adaptation tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who's just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. The series will also follow Percy as he treks across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.
The author said that aside from being a rising star, Scobell is also a “a super-fan of the books, having read everything through The Trials of Apollo.”
He added, “The excitement is so thick you could cut it with a Celestial bronze sword. Walker is an avid skateboarder and skier, and is super excited to get to Vancouver and start working on swordplay, holding his breath underwater, and other stunts of derring-do. I’m excited he’s doing all that and I don’t have to, but I will definitely be there cheering him on every step of the way!”
Riordan earlier said that he will co-write the pilot episode with Jon Steinberg while James Bobin, known for his works in The Muppets, Mysterious Benedict Society, and Dora and the Lost City of Gold, is helming the series.
Steinberg will oversee the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. Steinberg and Shotz are serving as executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe and Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg.
Previously, a film adaptation titled Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief debuted in theaters in 2010 while a second film installment, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, premiered in 2013. Both films starred Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth, and Brandon T. Jackson as Grover.
The release date for Percy Jackson and the Olympians has yet to be announced by Disney Plus.