Fake It Until You Remake It

Percy Jackson and The Olympians (2023)

The end of 2023 is looking better with the remake wave that is coming up. The "Hunger Games" returns in November with a prequel called "The Ballad of the Songbird and the Snake", as reported by The Deadline. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney Plus launches "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" original series this December. 

What do these two highly anticipated releases have in common? They are both iconic IPs originally born from bestselling books that already had a first run as film adaptations. 

Opposites 

One got massive success: "The Hunger Games" franchise made almost U$ 3 Billion in theatrical on four feature films (2012 - 2015). The prequel is expected to make even more, as Today suggests.

On the other hand, Percy Jackson only made U$ 326 Million in box-office from movies "The Lightning Thief" (2010) and "Sea of Monsters" (2013). Both films were considered mediocre by the fan base and the critics - therefore did not inspire enough confidence to grow the franchise. Read about it in IndieWire. 

Second Chance

It took Disney more than a decade to bet on Percy Jackson. Recently, they recognized the untapped potential of the well-established IP and developed an eight-part series. Not only did the book receive another go, but it also got a substantial budget and production increase. According to THR, Disney pioneered the use of cutting-edge technology. 

Flops

Unfortunately, adapting a successful IP doesn't automatically guarantee triumph. Percy Jackson is not alone in the fantasy / adventure realm. We have witnessed numerous ineffective adaptations, such as "After", "Fallen", "Divergent", "Eragon"_ see this BuzzFeed list for more. These cautionary tales serve as a reminder that the successful revival of IP hinges on careful planning, creative execution, and a deep understanding of what made the intellectual property idolized in the first place. 

Remakes and Adaptations

In the current economic landscape, it looks like the studios find themselves more secure by riding a wave of remakes of book adaptations. Successful cases like "The Twilight Saga" and "Harry Potter" are also receiving new versions. For more insights into the IP adaptation world, don't miss our previous newsletter Book Adaptation Era.

Do not hesitate to contact us to help you with your IP adaptation. We have helped clients successfully adapt articles, true stories, books, podcasts, plays, short films, and pilots into audiovisuals that even turned into franchises.

Best,

Laura Malin and Duda Persson