Author Rick Riordan has provided another extensive update on how filming of the Percy Jackson TV series is going in Vancouver. While it is an epic undertaking, they are already about halfway done with the first book – which is of course called The Lightning Thief.
Riordan gives a sense of the scale of the project via the catering that is required; “In case you’re wondering, our hardworking catering staff typically prepares 260 lunches every day to feed our crew, and that’s not including any background actors who might be working that day. This tells you how many people it takes to keep this production running.”
“Filming continues to go very well. Day to day, we don’t necessarily film in strict chronological order. If, for instance, there are scenes that happen on a city street in two different episodes, we may film them at the same time because it is more efficient that way. But in general, we have now covered most of the principal photography for ‘block one’…the good news is we are on schedule. Given the massively ambitious scale of this show, that is no small accomplishment.”
Riordan continues; “How much Percy content have we covered? Put it this way: If you were following along in the book, we have pretty much filmed through chapter nine in The Lightning Thief. That’s a big chunk of the story, but there is a massive amount of fun and games still to come! And yes, the filming has followed the book story very closely, almost as if the author were involved himself!”
And Riordan adds; “Sure, there are small tweaks and changes here and there, which were mutually agreed upon, but the biggest difference is the ‘value added.’ You will get peeks at character backstory, foreshadowing Easter eggs of things to come, and nuances in Percy’s family history that I think you will love.”
Riordan also praises the three leads and says he can’t imagine anyone else as the characters. While we wait for the Percy Jackson TV series to come to our screens, check out our guide to the best fantasy movies.