Percy Jackson and the Olympians has smashed a streaming record for Disney+. The new fantasy show is adapted from the book series of the same name by Rick Riordan. Inspired by Greek mythology, it follows 12-year-old Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) discovering that he is the son of the god Poseidon and being whisked off to train at Camp Half-Blood before going on a quest to discover the thief of Zeus’ Master Bolt alongside his friends, the satyr Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries).
Per TVLine, the debut of Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 on Disney+ racked up 572 million minutes viewed during its debut week on the Nielsen streaming chart, ranking No. 4 overall for the week of December 18 behind Prime Video’s Reacher and Netflix’s The Crown and My Life with the Walter Boys. This makes it the most-viewed debut week for a non-Marvel, non-Star Wars show on Disney+ since Nielsen started measuring streaming in March 2020. The only other such series to even land in the Top 10 during its debut week was Goosebumps with 553 million minutes.
How Percy Jackson and the Olympians Compares To Other Hit Disney+ Shows
Even with the Percy Jackson cast being populated with relative unknowns in the lead roles (save Walker Scobell, who starred in 2022’s The Adam Project opposite Ryan Reynolds), the show is putting up strong competition across the board for Disney+. In fact, the only live-action show debut that performed better than Percy Jackson in the entirety of 2023 (up through December 18) is Ahsoka. The Star Wars spinoff show was streamed for 829 million minutes during its debut week.
Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars are tentpole brands for the streamer, Marvel’s debuts throughout 2023 couldn’t compete with Percy Jackson whatsoever. In fact, the most recent MCU show to outrank Percy Jackson in its debut week was Hawkeye, which premiered in November 2021. Below, check out how Percy Jackson compares to the debut week of every Marvel show between the release of Hawkeye and December 18, 2023.
Title | Debut Date | Debut Week Viewership |
|---|---|---|
Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1 | December 18, 2023 | 572 million minutes |
Secret Invasion | June 21, 2023 | 461 million minutes |
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | August 18, 2022 | Did not debut in Top 10 |
Ms. Marvel | June 8, 2022 | 249 million minutes |
Moon Knight | March 30, 2022 | 418 million minutes |
Hawkeye | November 24, 2021 | 853 million minutes |
While that chart doesn’t include the new release Echo, varies depending on the number of episodes available during debut week, and is sometimes limited by shows premiering midweek, this is nevertheless an impressive result. Given the show’s success, it seems entirely likely that Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 is in the cards. While the show has not yet been renewed, its numbers will likely have had to crash spectacularly in the following weeks for that result to not inspire producers’ confidence in its future.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Based on the novel series by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson & the Olympians is an action-adventure fantasy television series created for Disney+. When Percy Jackson is framed for the theft of Zeus’ almighty thunderbolt, Percy must clear his name, all while harnessing the powers inherited by his father, Poseidon, at a camp created for demi-gods.
- Release Date
- December 20, 2023
- Cast
- Walker Scobell , Leah Sava Jeffries , Aryan Simhadri , Jason Mantzoukas , Megan Mullally , Glynn Turman , Adam Copeland , Virginia Kull , Lance Reddick
- Seasons
- 1
- Story By
- Rick Riordan
- Writers
- Rick Riordan , Jonathan E. Steinberg
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney Plus
- Franchise(s)
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians
- Directors
- James Bobin , Anders Engström
- Showrunner
- Jonathan E. Steinberg , Dan Shotz
