Disney+ has found its Percy Jackson.
Walker Scobell (The Adam Project) has landed the title role in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a serial adaptation of author Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels. Riordan, an executive producer on the series, announced the news on his website Monday morning.
“Walker Scobell is an incredibly talented young man who blew our minds with his audition tapes for the role of Percy,” Riordan wrote. “Many of you recently discovered how awesome Walker is when you saw his film The Adam Project, in which Walker lit up the screens as a younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character. We were lucky enough to audition Walker months before the film came out, but the film only confirmed what we already knew about his talent. It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect blend of comedic timing, sweetness, rebellion, bite and heroism to embody our hero, Percy Jackson.”
Disney+ placed a series order with Percy Jackson and the Olympians in January. The series follows a 12-year-old boy (Scobell) who learns he is a demigod. He’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus. Production on the series on Disney’s 20th Television is slated to begin this summer.
Percy is smart and compassionate, with a keen sense of humor. He’s always seen himself as an outsider, partly because the world sees his ADHD and dyslexia. Impulsive and quick to anger when things seem unfair, he is also a loving son and loyal friend who wants to make things right for those he cares about – if only he can find a place that suits him.
The first two books in Riordan’s series were previously adapted into feature films starring Logan Lerman as the title character. Fans of the novels were less than thrilled with the films, which aged the main characters and made several other important changes to the story.
Riordan is more involved with the series, writing the pilot with Jon Steinberg (Black Sails, FX’s The Old Man), which will be directed by James Bobin. Steinberg and production partner Dan Shotz will oversee the series. All four executive producers along with Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell and DJ Goldberg of The Gotham Group.
Scobell made his film debut with Netflix’s The Adam Project. He will star in Paramount’s family action film Secret Headquarters alongside Owen Wilson, Michael Peña and Jesse Williams. He is represented by A3 Artists Agency, Stagecoach Entertainment and attorney Ryan LeVine.