Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief didn’t exactly set the box office alight when it hit screens last February, although it did earn a modest $226 million worldwide on a budget of $95 million (plus an extra $33 million on DVD/Blu-ray).

With no greenlight or mention of a sequel throughout the rest of 2010 it could have been assumed that 20th Century Fox weren’t interested in making another, however according to reports screenwriters have been hired and filming on the second film could begin as early as this summer.

From 24 Frames:

Fox 2000, the 20th Century Fox label behind the adventure franchise, is putting a follow-up project to the 2010 young-adult film in active development and could shoot it as early as this summer, according to a person who has been briefed on the project’s status but was not authorized to speak publicly about it. The movie would be subtitled “The Sea of Monsters” and derive from the second book in Rick Riordan’s five-book series.

The studio has hired Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski — who wrote “Ed Wood” and “Agent Cody Banks” — to write a script for the new film, which they are currently doing. But the person cautioned that the project is still very much at the development phase; the movie, for instance, does not yet have a director.

The site continues to say that Chris Columbus is not expected to return as director (although he will produce), however leads Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson and Alexandra Daddario will be back. The second novel by Rick Riordan follows Percy and his group of friends as they head to the titular sea to find the mythical Golden Fleece and to free a friend who has been captured there.

Are you interested in seeing a second outing from Percy Jackson?

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With a December 2012 release date set Warner Bros. will be on the lookout for a director who can work alongside Christopher Nolan to reboot the Superman franchise. They still have a while to find one yet, however according to Superman Homepage an “offer has been sent out to Chris Columbus to direct”. This could be untrue of course, but it’s a slow news day so let’s consider the idea.

Columbus is the man behind the first two Harry Potter movies and more recently Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. He is also responsible for I Love You, Beth Cooper and the script for Christmas with the Kranks so he doesn’t really have the best track record for making good movies.

If Chris Columbus were to direct the Superman reboot I’d be against the idea, mainly because I think the franchise deserves a better director. I wouldn’t consider myself a Superman fan so I can’t really say who I think would be the best director for the job, although I know Columbus won’t be.

What do you think of this unconfirmed speculative rumor?

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By this time next month 20th Century Fox may have a new franchise on their hands. That all of course depends on whether Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief can stand its ground against The Wolfman when it is released on February 12th. It has a lot going for it, having already established a fan base who read the books, as well as having good looking young leads and director Chris Columbus, who kick-started the Harry Potter franchise. There are also Greek Gods and multi-headed fire breathing monsters, which will no doubt appeal to casual movie goers in need of entertainment.

A clip from the movie has made its way online, and in it we see Percy Jackson with his version of Ron and Hermione taking on a Hydra, with their version of magic.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief also stars Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Uma Thurman and Rosario Dawson.

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Yesterday we saw an international trailer for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and now we have a new domestic one. It’s similar to the one we got yesterday but it’s longer, contains new footage, and we find out that Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon and can control water. People who have read the book will have known that already, however having only just found out I think it’s pretty cool.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus and stars Logan Lerman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Uma Thurman and Rosario Dawson, and will be released next February.

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Clash of the Titans isn’t the only movie being released next year that features Greek Gods. Percy Jackson is getting in on the action too. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is based on the book by Rick Riordan and follows a young boy who discovers he is the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods. These aren’t just any gods however. Sean Bean plays Zeus, Kevin McKidd plays Poseidon and Steve Coogan plays Hades. We also have Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, Uma Thurman as Medusa and Rosario Dawson as Persephone.

Surprisingly the teaser trailer contains none of these familiar faces. Instead we see Percy Jackson, played by Logan Lerman, inside the Empire state building and he somehow finds himself on the Mount Olympus floor. Easy mistake to make.

The film is directed by Chris Columbus who directed the first two Potter films, so it should be in safe hands. Although i’ll admit the reviews for his most recent film I Love You, Beth Cooper don’t fill me with confidence.

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Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman and Sean Bean have signed up to play Greek Gods and mythological beasts in Percy Jackson. The title doesn’t quite fit with the whole ‘Greek Gods’ thing but the man directing, Chris Columbus, was responsible for launching the Harry Potter franchise, so we have nothing too worry about.

From Empire:

Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman and Sean Bean have signed on to star in Chris Columbus’ new adventure comedy, Percy Jackson, about the adventures of Poseidon’s 12 year-old half-human son.

Some of those Gods will be played by the aforementioned trio of stars, with Thurman signing on to play the traditionally snake-haired ugly bugly, Medusa, Brosnan the centaur god, Chiron, while Bean will play head cheese Zeus, whose lightning bolt is stolen at story’s inception.

Brandon T. Jackson, the ever-awesome Kevin McKidd and CSI: NY star, Melina Kanakerides have also joined the cast of the movie, which is based on Rick Riordan’s series of children’s novels, Percy Jackson & The Olympians. This movie is an adaptation of the first book, The Lightning Thief (the suffix has been dropped for the big screen), with Columbus, the man who launched the Harry Potter franchise, hoping to succeed again in the same genre.

Filming begins next month in Vancouver, with a 2010 release date looming. Columbus and Fox 2000 are still trying to cast three more Godlike roles in Aries, Hades and Persephone before that date arrives.

There are 5 books in the series so if all goes well we could have another Harry Potter-style franchise on our hands.

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