…in the upcoming Percy Jackson, a Greek Gods fantasy film adapted from Richard Riordan’s The Lightning Thief. THR.com reported today that Brosnan and Thurman had joined the cast, along with Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd and Melina Kanakaredes to play various Olympians. Brosnan is set to play Chiron, a centaur, Thurman will join him as Medusa, Bean as Zeus, McKidd as Poseidon and Kanakaredes as Athena. They join the previously cast Logan Lerman (Percy), Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth) and Brandon T. Jackson (Grover) as the main teenagers.
Percy Jackson tells the tale of the titular character, Poseidon’s half-human son,
Percy, who’s on a quest across modern America to prevent a war
among the gods. The Lightning Thief is the first of five books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series from Riordan, with the latest, The Last Olympian, due for release in May. Chris Columbus is already on board to direct, produce and he co-wrote the screenplay with Craig Titley (Cheaper By The Dozen). No word on whether he’ll have to sue himself for gimmick infringement.
It’s actually sort of surprising to me that if Columbus wanted to get so heavily involved with what could turn out to be the next Harry Potter franchise, which he helped usher into existence, that he wouldn’t have come back at some point in that series to finish it out. Regardless, he also has I Love You, Beth Cooper set to come out this year and will also be directing Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! for 2010. Percy Jackson is slated for a February release.