Saturday, May 02, 2009

FILM: Cast of Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson"

Chris Columbus (Harry Potter 1 & 2) is adapting the first novel in Rick Riordan's five-book series Percy Jackson, which is subtitled The Lightning Thief. It's the story of a boy with ADHD and dyslexia who discovers he's Perseus, a descendant of the Greek god Poseidon, and "sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods." In the first novel, Zeus accuses him of stealing his thunderbolt and, with the help of a satyr (Tropic Thunder's Brandon T. Jackson) and Athena's daughter Annabeth (Alexandria Daddario from "All My Children"), he finds the real thief in order to clear his name. If I'm not mistaken, the film starts off in present-day reality, mythical beings attack him in present-day reality, and then his adventure truly begins in the world of the Gods, kind of like The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter.

Logan Lerman ("Jack & Bobby" and 3:10 to Yuma) plays the lead:





Zeus = Sean Bean





Poseidon = Kevin McKidd





Athena = Melina Kanakaredes





Aphrodite = Serinda Swan
(played Zatana on "Smallville")


Hades = Steve Coogan (Hamlet 2) Persephone = Rosario Dawson


Ares = Ray Winstone
(Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)



More Supporting Characters:
Annabeth Chase = Alexandra Daddario ("All My Children")
She's the daughter of Athena. She has a Yankee cap that gives her the power of invisibility (read into that what you wish). She's like the Hermione of the series.

Grover Underwood = Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder)
He's a satyr who was secretly assigned to guard Percy at boarding school and he joins him on all of his quests.

Luke Castellan =
newcomer Jake Abel
He is the son of the messenger God Hermes and an antagonist in the novel. He's a counselor at the camp that trains half-bloods, and apart of a love triangle with Annabeth and Percy.

Medusa = Uma Thurman
A hideous woman with a head full of snakes who with one look can turn you to stone. That's not exactly what I think of when I think of Uma. Her character is involved in an important death in the series.

Chiron = Pierce Brosnan
He'll play a centaur who's the assistant director to Camp Half Blood. He specializes in medicine and is a respected oracle. He's in possession of a prophecy that may apply to Percy. He has an invested interest in his future and even gives him a sword that was once used by Hercules. He's unlike any other centaur for he is the son of a Titan.

Interesting Plot Points:
  • The demi-god/half-blood (half human, half God) advantage is having ADHD and dyslexia, which is supposed to make them more aware in battles.
  • The demi-gods are trained at Camp Half Blood, like Harry Potter is trained at Hogwarts.
  • Percy's mom (played by Catherine Keener) married an obnoxious gambler because "the stench of his human banality can mask Percy's divine blood."
This sort of stinks of Harry Potter. I dunno.

Check out which actors will play the Gods:

14 comments:

  1. I'm a long time fan of Melina Kanakaredes. I remember watching her on Guiding Light back when it was good. And on Providence, great show! I'm glad to see she's getting more roles.

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  2. there isn't an ares in the cast. i just checked IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814255/fullcredits#cast

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  3. alexandra and the person who plays athena look nothing like they shold, in the book it clearly says annabeth and atena have blond hair

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  4. I can't wait to see this but i think that they might change too much of it :(

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  5. "Annabeth" isn't even blond!

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  6. no ares! What are they thinking! He's like the main part of the book! I loved the books, but I don't think i'll like the movie!:(

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  7. they are really gonna mess this up big time.I really liked the books

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  8. good news. they added ares, but marked him as uncredited. maybe he doesn't have a major role in this one but he will in future ones.

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  9. i still think the movies gonna suck... oh, well, we have to see...

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  10. i think they are trying to get the movie as far away from the novel as possible
    Grover-Pale 14 yr. old w/ red hair
    Annabeth-BLONDE CURLEY HAIR!!!!!

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  11. they changed alot of things

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  12. I saw the movie a few weeks ago. It was great! The cast was amazing. I agree, Ares was uncredited in the movie. Even though the movie wasn't a lot like the book, it was still great!

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  13. Ares is the god of war.

    And ya they got this movie way wrong Annabeth is supposed to be blonde with blueish-grayish eyes!

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