Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

This article is about the film. For the novel, see The Lightning Thief. For the series, see Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Columbus
Produced by	Karen Rosenfelt Chris Columbus Michael Barnathan Mark Radcliffe
Screenplay by	Craig Titley
Based on	The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Starring	Logan Lerman Brandon T. Jackson Alexandra Daddario Jake Abel Sean Bean Pierce Brosnan Melina Kanakaredes 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
Studio	1492 Pictures Dune Entertainment Imprint Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 2, 2010 (2010-02-02) (Canada) February 12, 2010 (2010-02-12) (United States)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$95 million
Box office	$226,497,209

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (also known as Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief) is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film directed by Chris Columbus. The film is loosely based on The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. It stars Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson alongside an ensemble cast that includes Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Rosario Dawson, Steve Coogan, Uma Thurman, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Sean Bean and Pierce Brosnan. It was released to theaters on February 12, 2010.

The film cost $95 million to make. In its opening weekend in North America the film ranked number two; and in its first weekend the film grossed $38.8 million. The film grossed $226,497,209 worldwide.

A sequel to the film is planned for release on March 27, 2013.

Plot

On top of the Empire State Building, Olympian gods Zeus and Poseidon meet, where Zeus reveals that his master lightning bolt has been stolen and accuses Poseidon's demigod son Percy Jackson of the theft. Poseidon reminds him that Percy is unaware of his true identity, but Zeus declares that unless Percy returns the lightning bolt to Mount Olympus before the next summer solstice, war will be waged. Percy is a seventeen-year-old teenager who appears to be dyslexic, but has a unique ability to stay underwater for a lengthy time. While on a school trip to the local museum, Percy is attacked by a Fury disguised as his substitute teacher, who demands the lightning bolt. Percy's best friend Grover Underwood and Latin teacher Mr. Brunner, both of whom appear disabled, help Percy and scare off the Fury. Upon learning the Fury's reason for the attack, Mr. Brunner gives Percy a pen and tells him it is a powerful weapon and has Grover take Percy and his mother Sally out to Camp Half-Blood, leaving behind Sally's lazy husband Gabe Ugliano. However, the three are attacked by a minotaur who appears to kill Sally, since she is unable to enter the camp. Grover tells Percy to use the pen, and Percy discovers that it is actually a sword, which he uses to fight the minotaur, without initial success. Percy kills the minotaur with its own horn and then faints from shock.

Three days later, Percy wakes up in the camp. He learns that he is the son of Poseidon, Grover is really a satyr and his protector, and Mr. Brunner is really the centaur Chiron. Chiron suggests Percy go to Mount Olympus and convince Zeus of his innocence. Percy begins his training to use his demigod powers (which include water manipulation and using water to heal), and meets other demigods including Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. After assisting in a team exercise, Percy is visited by a fiery apparition of his uncle Hades, who reveals that Sally is with him in the Underworld and he will return her safely if Percy hands over the lightning bolt. Defying Chiron's orders, Percy goes to the Underworld, joined by Grover and Annabeth. They visit Luke, who gives them a map showing three of Persephone's pearls that they can utilize to escape the Underworld, an old shield, and a pair of winged sneakers Luke stole from his father.

The trio head out, locating the first pearl at an old garden center but encountering Medusa, who tries to kill them until decapitated by Percy - her head taken with them for further use. They locate the second pearl in the Parthenon in Nashville, and Percy uses the winged shoes to take it from a statue of Athena. Afterwards however, they are confronted by Hydra, whom Grover petrifies using Medusa's head. The third pearl is located in Las Vegas in the Lotus Casino, where the three eat lotus flowers and forget their reason for being there. They wind up in the casino for five days until Percy's dad Poseidon speaks into Percy's mind, helping Percy come to his senses, and Percy then goes and helps Grover and Annabeth do the same and they flee, discovering the casino is run by the Lotus-Eaters. With all three pearls in their possession, Percy, Grover and Annabeth head into the Underworld, the portal for which is located in Hollywood.

In the Underworld they meet Hades and his wife Persephone. Though Percy tells Hades he does not have the lightning bolt, Hades finds the bolt hidden inside Luke's shield, thus revealing Luke to be the lightning thief. Persephone knocks out Hades with the bolt to get back at him for imprisoning her with him for all eternity, and hands the bolt to Percy. However, because they only have three pearls, Grover remains with Persephone. Percy, Annabeth and Sally teleport to the Empire State Building but are attacked by Luke, who wants to destroy Mount Olympus to secure the demigods' place as the new rulers of the gods. After a fight across Manhattan, Percy defeats Luke and returns the bolt to Zeus, who forgives Percy and allows Poseidon to briefly speak with his son. The film ends with Percy and Annabeth reuniting with Grover, who has now grown horns (though only small ones), meaning he is now a senior protector, and returning to the camp to continue their training.

In a post-credits scene, Gabe is being kicked out of Sally's house. He finds a note from Percy warning him not to open the fridge. Angrily ignoring it, he opens the fridge only to be petrified by Medusa's head.

Cast

See also: List of Percy Jackson & the Olympians cast members

Main characters

• Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, the demigod son of Poseidon.
• Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood, Percy's best friend, a satyr.
• Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, the demigod daughter of Athena.
• Jake Abel as Luke Castellan, the demigod son of Hermes.

Gods

• Sean Bean as Zeus, lord of the sky, king of the twelve gods of Mount Olympus and brother of Poseidon and Hades. He blames Percy for stealing his bolt.
• Kevin McKidd as Poseidon, Percy's father, lord of the sea and brother of Zeus and Hades.
• Steve Coogan as Hades, lord of the Underworld and brother of Zeus and Poseidon.
• Melina Kanakaredes as Athena, Annabeth's mother, goddess of wisdom, battle strategies, and justice.
• Rosario Dawson as Persephone, goddess of springtime and wife of Hades.
• Dylan Neal as Hermes, Luke's father, god of thieves, travelers, and messengers.
• Erica Cerra as Hera, goddess of family, marriage, and wife of Zeus.
• Stefanie von Pfetten as Demeter, goddess of agriculture, sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone.
• Dimitri Lekkos as Apollo, god of the sun, poetry, music, prophecy, and twin brother of Artemis.
• Ona Grauer as Artemis, goddess of the moon, hunting, and twin sister of Apollo.
• Serinda Swan as Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, and wife of Hephaestus.
• Conrad Coates as Hephaestus, god of the forge and husband of Aphrodite.
• Ray Winstone as Ares, god of war.
• Luke Camilleri as Dionysus, god of wine.

Mythical creatures

• Uma Thurman as Medusa, a gorgon cursed by Athena.
• Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, a centaur who trains heroes at Camp Half-Blood.
• Maria Olsen as Mrs. Dodds/Alecto, a Fury servant to Hades.
• Julian Richings as Charon, ferryman of the River Styx.
• Chelan Simmons as the Lotus Eater

Mortals

• Catherine Keener as Sally Jackson, Percy's mother
• Joe Pantoliano as Gabe Ugliano, Percy's stepfather.

Production

In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book. In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project. Filming began in April 2009 in Vancouver. Portions of the film were shot at the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, that has a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. Filming wrapped up on the morning of July 25, 2009 in Mission, British Columbia. Additional exterior scenes were filmed on location in Brooklyn, New York during the first week of August 2009. Digital intermediate work began in San Francisco in November 2009. Christophe Beck composed the score.

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."

Reception

Box office

The film opened on February 12, 2010 in 3,356 theaters; its opening weekend box-office results totaled $31,236,067 in the U.S., finishing at #2 above The Wolfman, which opened at #3 with $31,479,235 and below Valentine's Day, which opened at #1 with $56,260,707. 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. As of September 14, 2010 it grossed a domestic total of $88,768,303 with $137,673,529 elsewhere in the world, bringing it to $226,441,832.

Critical response

Critical reception of the film has been mixed, as indicated by an average score of 47 out of 100 from Metacritic. 50% of 130 reviews were positive according to Rotten Tomatoes; 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". Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "standard Hollywood product... unadventurous and uninteresting." 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." On BBC Radio 5, Mark Kermode criticized the similarity of the film to director Chris Columbus's Harry Potter films, comparing it to a Harry Potter parody book and dubbing it 'Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins'. This comment later sparked a satirical fan creation with precisely that title.)

Awards and nominations

Award	Category/Recipient(s)	Result	References
2010 MTV Movie Awards	Breakthrough Performance Logan Lerman	Nominated
	Best Fight Logan Lerman vs. Jake Abel	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards 2010	Choice Movie Actress: Fantasy Rosario Dawson	Nominated
	Choice: Breakout Female Alexandra Daddario	Nominated
	Choice: Breakout Male Logan Lerman	Nominated
	Choice: Fight Logan Lerman vs. Jake Abel	Nominated
37th Saturn Awards	Best Performance by a Younger Actor Logan Lerman	Nominated
2010 Scream Awards	Best Cameo "Rosario Dawson"	Nominated

Soundtrack

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Soundtrack album by Christophe Beck
Released	February 9, 2010 (2010-02-09)
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	59:07
Label	ABKCO Records

All music composed by Christophe Beck.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Prelude"	2:29
2.	"The Minotaur"	5:09
3.	"Chiron"	2:02
4.	"Victory"	1:32
5.	"The Fury"	2:16
6.	"Dyslexia"	1:02
7.	"The Hydra"	6:54
8.	"Medusa"	2:43
9.	"Son of Poseidon"	1:57
10.	"The Parthenon"	3:42
11.	"Hollywood"	2:32
12.	"Lost Souls"	2:35
13.	"Fighting Luke, Pt. 1"	3:54
14.	"Fighting Luke, Pt. 2"	2:47
15.	"Hades"	2:47
16.	"Mount Olympus"	1:27
17.	"Poseidon"	3:07
18.	"Homecoming"	3:06
19.	"End Credits"	7:12

Songs featured in the film that were not included in the soundtrack:

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Highway to Hell"	AC/DC	3:28
2.	"I'll Pretend"	Dwight Yoakam	2:22
3.	"A Little Less Conversation"	Elvis Presley	3:30
4.	"Poker Face"	Lady Gaga	3:58
5.	"Mama Told Me (Not to Come)"	Three Dog Night	2:58
6.	"Tik Tok"	Kesha	3:21

Video game

A video game based on the film was released on the Nintendo DS on February 11, 2010. 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."

Home media

The film was released on June 29, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray. The movie itself charted at the top of the charts (DVD sales) with $13,985,047 in revenue in its first week. As of October 2011, the movie had sold 2,087,368 DVDs with over $37 million in sales.

Sequel

In October 2011, 20th Century Fox announced a sequel, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters, scheduled for release on March 27, 2013.

External links

• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief at the Internet Movie Database
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief at AllRovi
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief at Rotten Tomatoes
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief at Metacritic
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief at Box Office Mojo