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Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief |
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 Teaser poster |
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| Directed by | Chris Columbus |
| Produced by | Chris Columbus Michael Barnathan Karen Rosenfelt |
| Written by | Screenplay: Craig Titley Joe Stillman[1] Novel: Rick Riordan |
| Starring | Logan Lerman Brandon T. Jackson Alexandra Daddario Jake Abel Pierce Brosnan Catherine Keener Uma Thurman Sean Bean |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Editing by | Peter Honess |
| Studio | 1492 Pictures Imprint Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Fox 2000 Pictures |
| Release date(s) | Australia: February 11, 2010 United States: February 12, 2010 United Kingdom: February 12, 2010 |
| Country | United States Canada |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters |
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is an upcoming fantasy-adventure film directed by Chris Columbus. The film is an adaptation of The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. It will star Logan Lerman as the titular Percy Jackson alongside an ensemble cast which includes Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Rosario Dawson, Steve Coogan, Uma Thurman, Catherine Keener, and Pierce Brosnan. It is set to released on February 12, 2010.
Contents |
A teenager named Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) discovers that he's the demigod son of the Greek god, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). He embarks on a journey across modern-day America with his friends Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario), the demigod daughter of Athena, and Grover Underwood (Brandon T. Jackson), a satyr, to save his mother (Catherine Keener), return Zeus' (Sean Bean) stolen lightning bolt, and prevent a war between the gods.[2][3][4]
In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book.[8] In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project.[4] Filming began in April 2009 in Vancouver.[2] Portions of the film were shot at the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens.[9] Filming wrapped up on the morning of July 25, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Digital intermediate work began in San Francisco in November 2009.[10] Christophe Beck will be composing the score.[11]
A second trailer has now been released that is shown on Rick Riordan's blog showing a few new scenes from the film. The International trailer was released November 19, 2009. The third trailer was released online and shown in theaters in the release of Fantastic Mr. Fox in wide releases.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters is an upcoming fantasy-adventure film scheduled for release in 2012. The film is an adaptation of The Sea of Monsters, the second novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan.[12][13]
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| Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Chris Columbus |
| Produced by | Chris Columbus Michael Barnathan Karen Rosenfelt |
| Written by | Craig Titley Joe Stillman[1] Rick Riordan (Novel) |
| Starring | Logan Lerman Brandon T. Jackson Alexandra Daddario Jake Abel Sean Bean Pierce Brosnan Steve Coogan Rosario Dawson Catherine Keener Kevin McKidd Joe Pantoliano Uma Thurman Ray Winstone |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
| Editing by | Peter Honess |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | February 11, 2010 February 12, 2010 (United States) |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $95 million[2] |
| Gross revenue | $191,143,508[3] |
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (known as Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief in the UK and Australia) is a fantasy-adventure film directed by Chris Columbus. The film is based on The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. It stars Logan Lerman as the main character, Percy Jackson, alongside an ensemble cast which includes Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Rosario Dawson, Steve Coogan, Uma Thurman, Catherine Keener, Sean Bean and Pierce Brosnan. It was released to theaters on February 12, 2010.[4]
In its opening weekend the film ranked #2; and in its first week the film grossed $40 million, comprising 40% of its "$95 million budget".[5] Critical reception was mixed. The film made a worldwide total of $191,143,508 after 28 days of release.
Contents |
At the top of the Empire State Building, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) meets with Zeus (Sean Bean), who comments that the storm clouds have no lightning and that his master bolt has been stolen. He blames Poseidon's son for the theft. Despite Poseidon's claims of his son's innocence, Zeus gives Poseidon 14 days to return it, lest war break out.
During a field trip to a display of Greek and Roman art, teenager Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), is lured away from the crowd by a Fury disguised as his substitute English teacher, who then attacks him, questioning him about the lightning bolt. Percy, who has no knowledge of this, is rescued by his Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner (Pierce Brosnan). After getting rid of the Fury, Brunner gives Percy a magical pen. On Brunner's instruction, Percy's best friend, Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), takes Percy to a training camp for demigods (half-human, half-gods), Camp Half-Blood. They are driven by Percy's mother, Sally Jackson (Catherine Keener). During their trip to the camp, Percy tries to learn about his father from Sally, but they are attacked by a Minotaur. Percy and Grover, who is revealed to be a satyr (half-goat, half-human), make it to the camp. Its defenses keep Sally from entering, she is captured by the Minotaur, and disappears before Percy. Percy engages the Minotaur with the magical pen, which turns into a sword named Riptide. He finally kills the creature with one of its horns.
In touring Camp Half-Blood, Percy learns that Brunner is the camp's trainer and the mythological centaur (half-horse, half-human) Chiron. He also finds out that his father is the god Poseidon. He meets Luke Castellan (Jake Abel), the son of Hermes, and Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of Athena. While at the camp, Percy learns that water has the power to heal his injuries, and allows him to use his magical abilities.
Hades later appears and reveals that Sally Jackson is his prisoner, and proposes she be traded for the master bolt. Chiron instructs Percy not to bargain with the god, but to go to Olympus to convince Zeus that he did not take the bolt. Percy sneaks away from the camp to travel to the Underworld along with Grover and Annabeth, who secure for him a portable shield from Luke, flying shoes and a map to Persephone's (Rosario Dawson) pearls, one of which will reveal the exit from the Underworld.
At Aunty Em's Garden Emporium, they are attacked by Medusa (Uma Thurman), but manage to kill her, and take the pearl from her bracelet. They also take her head, which they later successfully use against a hydra that attacks them during their gaining of another pearl from the crown of a giant statue of Athena at the Parthenon replica in Nashville, Tennessee. They acquire the third and final pearl from a roulette wheel at a hotel casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, in part with help from Poseidon. The map reveals an entrance to the Underworld in Hollywood, California, beneath the Hollywood Sign.
The trio enter the Underworld and cross the River Styx. Persephone takes them to Hades. Percy tries to explain to Hades that he did not steal the bolt. During an resulting chaos, Percy drops his shield, whose handle conceals the missing master bolt, which Hades takes. However, the trio manage to get it back before escaping the Underworld with the rescued Sally, forced to leave Grover behind, in Persephone's "care", as they only had three pearls. They are transported to the top of the Empire State Building, which they learn is the entrance to Olympus. They are confronted by Luke, who reveals himself to have been the real lightning thief. Explaining his hope for new rulers to take over Olympus, he explains that he had hoped that the trio would not escape the Underworld alive. He steals the bolt from Percy and the two fight. After using his water powers to get rid of Luke, Percy arrives in Olympus, where he presents the retrieved bolt, and reveals the truth about Luke. Poseidon explains to Percy the reason why they could not know each other during Percy's childhood, but expresses his love for his son. Percy also requests that Zeus retrieve Grover from the Underworld, to which the god agrees. Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood, where he continues his training, ending the movie in the midst of a clash with Annabeth. After the end credits, a scene shows Sally forcing Gabe out of their apartment and he reads a note on the fridge from Percy that says not to open the fridge. Gabe destroys the lock on the refrigerator and as he opens it, Medusa stares right back at him, and the scene goes black while a crackling noise is heard, showing that Gabe has been turned to stone.
In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book.[11] In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project.[12] Filming began in April 2009 in Vancouver.[8] Portions of the film were shot at the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens.[13] Filming wrapped up on the morning of July 25, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Digital intermediate work began in San Francisco in November 2009.[14] Christophe Beck composed the score.[15]
Columbus has stated that the cast were chosen specifically with sequels in mind. " I think with Percy Jackson it was a matter of finding the right cast to fit into these roles, sort of the perfect cast for these roles, because hopefully, God willing, we will go on to do other Percy Jackson films and you want the cast to grow with their characters."[16]
The film opened on February 12, 2010 in 3,356 theaters; its opening weekend box-office results totaled $31,236,067[17] in the U.S., finishing at #3 behind The Wolfman, which opened at #2 with $31,479,235 and Valentine's Day, which opened at #1 with $56,260,707.[18] The film had a strong opening weekend for its genre, posting the highest opening weekend for a fantasy film not from the Harry Potter, Narnia, or Lord of the Rings series.[19] As of March 9, 2010, it grossed a total of $78,886,633, with $111,950,508 elsewhere in the world, bringing it to $190,837,141. It is the second highest grossing movie worldwide in 2010 after Alice in Wonderland.[20]
Critical reception of the film has been mixed, as indicated by a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 from Metacritic.[21] The film currently holds a 50% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 120 reviews; the site's general consensus being that although the film "may seem like just another Harry Potter knockoff, the film benefits from a strong supporting cast, a speedy plot, and plenty of fun with Greek mythology".[22] Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times described the film as "standard Hollywood product... unadventurous and uninteresting."[23] The Washington Post reviewer thought "the movie suffers by taking itself a little too seriously. It's not just that it's a lot less funny than the book. It's also a lot less fun."[24] On BBC Radio 5 Mark Kermode criticized the similarity of the film to director Chris Columbus' Harry Potter films.[25]
A Percy Jackson video game based on Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was released on the Nintendo DS on February 11, 2010.[26]
GameZone's Michael Splechta gave it a 6/10, saying "Percy Jackson might not make a splash when it comes to movie tie-in games, but fans of turn-based combat might find some redeeming qualities in this otherwise bare-bones game."[27]
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