Disney announced today that Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the top Disney Branded Television premiere of all time and one of the top five season premieres of 2023, with the first episode driving 13.3 million views globally across both Disney+ and Hulu in its first six days streaming.
The Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television debuted as an early surprise for fans on Tuesday, December 19th at 6 p.m. PT, with Episodes 1 and 2 on Disney+, and Episode 1 on Hulu. Subsequent episodes of the eight-part series debut weekly on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. PT on Disney+, with Episode 3 dropping today.
#percyjackson on TikTok received 212 million views within the last seven days in the US (Source: TikTok for Business) and was No. 5 for daily searches across Google in the US on the day of the series’ release (December 19) (Source: Google Trends).
The series is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 96% critics rating as of December 26, 2023.
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians debut caps a year of success for Disney Branded Television, including debuts of hit Disney+ original Goosebumps; a second season of the Disney+ holiday favorite The Santa Clauses; KIFF, the best-animated series launch for Kids 6-11 since Big City Greens debuted in 2018; Superkitties, the #1 most-watched new series among preschoolers (K2-5); as well as new episodes of Bluey, the #1 most-watched series of the year for kids 2-11.
Additionally, Disney Branded Television earned a record 74 Children’s & Family Emmy nominations (the highest of any industry group, sweeping two full categories) and 14 wins — and helped keep Disney Junior on pace to be the #1 24-hour preschool network for the 11th straight year, and Disney Channel on pace to be Girls 6-11’s #1 cable network for the 18th straight year.
In the new series, Percy Jackson is on a dangerous quest. Outrunning monsters and outwitting gods, he must journey across America to return Zeus’ master bolt and stop an all-out war.
With the help of his quest mates Annabeth and Grover, Percy’s journey will lead him closer to the answers he seeks: how to fit into a world where he feels out of place and find out who he’s destined to be.
Based on Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan, the Disney+ Original series stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood.
Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz.
The executive producers also include Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Monica Owusu-Breen, Anders Engström, and Jet Wilkinson.
What do you think about the new series so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.