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This article is about the film. For other uses, see The Lightning Thief (disambiguation).

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film adaptation of The Lightning Thief, written by Rick Riordan, who did not contribute to the making of this film, directed by Chris Joseph Columbus, and is the first installment of the Percy Jackson film series. 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 in theaters on February 12, 2010.

The film cost $95 million to make and 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. It was not as successful as originally hoped, but a sequel to the film was released on August 7, 2013. Many fans disliked the way they took the adaptation, and have given it a new name, Peter Johnson.

Production

File:Percy Jackson & the Olympians The Lightning Thief HD Movie Trailer

In June 2004, 20th, Century Fox acquired the film rights to the book. In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to lead at the helm of the project. Filming began in April 2009 in Vancouver while other portions of the film were shot at the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee; A full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. Filming wrapped up on the morning of July 25, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Digital intermediate work began in San Francisco in November 2009. Christopher Beck composed the soundtrack.

Chris Columbus has stated that each member of 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."

Plot

Opening/Prologue

The movie opens with Poseidon meeting with Zeus at the top of Mount Olympus where Zeus reveals to Poseidon that his master bolt has been stolen. Zeus blames Poseidon's son for the theft despite Poseidon's insistence that he is innocent, and gives him until summer solstice for the bolt to be returned or there will be war. Zeus then departs for Olympus.

The Fury

Mrs

A Fury.

Percy is introduced underwater in a pool, holding his breath for seven minutes before leaving his school, Yancy Academy and going to his mother, Sally who lives with Percy's abusive stepfather, Gabe Ugliano. The next day during a field trip Alecto, one of the Furies, disguised as Percy's substitute English teacher asks to talk to him. Once alone, she attacks him and questions him about the location of the bolt. Grover and Percy's Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner arrive and the Fury flees through a window. Mr. Brunner orders Grover to take Percy to "the camp," because "there's no safe place on Heaven or Earth for him now."

The Minotaur

On the way there, Sally tells Percy that he is special, but not why he is so special. She talks about his father, who she says was "dazzling," and Grover makes a smart remark saying, "They're always dazzling." The conversation is cut short by the Minotaur that arrives, causing the trio to crash Gabe Ugliano's muscle car by overturning it on its top, and Grover reveals he is a satyr and uses his hooves to break the windows and manages to get them out of the crashed car, and they make the rest of the journey on foot with the Minotaur on their tail. When they reach the Camp Half-Blood gate, Grover and Percy go through, but the magical defenses keeps Sally out to the mercy of the Minotaur. The Minotaur turns her to golden light, and Percy believes she is killed. The celestial bronze sword, Riptide, which was given to Percy by Mr. Brunner (aka. Chiron after Percy meets him in his centaur form at Camp Half Blood) fails but Percy manages to kill the Minotaur with one of its horns which he breaks off the bullman's head. He faints afterward from exhaustion in Grover's hands.

Capture the Flag and Annabeth Chase

Tumblr l3mhsu2BWn1qb276ao1 500

Capture the flag.

Percy later wakes up in the infirmary. He is taken around Camp with Grover, and meets Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, and Luke, a son of Hermes and the Hermes Cabin leader. Percy finds out that Mr. Brunner is actually the centaur Chiron, and the camp's trainer. Chiron takes Percy to his lakeside cabin, where he discovers that his father is Poseidon. Later, all demigods at Camp Half-Blood are gathered around so that Chiron can introduce Percy to everyone, and for someone to pick him as part of their team. Luke takes Percy as a member of the Hermes cabin team. Percy participates in Capture the Flag on Luke Castellan's team, the Hermes Cabin. He fights Annabeth for the red flag but she easily beats him by pushing him to the ground, injuring him. On the ground and wounded, Poseidon advises Percy to "go to the water" in which the water heals and restrengthen him, and soon after defeating Annabeth, takes the red flag, making the blue team the winner of Capture the Flag.

The Quest Begins

During the celebration, Hades appears in the campfire as a fire demon and reveals that Sally Jackson is not dead, but she is his prisoner. He asks for a trade; he gets the master bolt, which Percy is framed for stealing, and he gets his mother. Chiron tells Percy not to bargain with Hades, and to go to Olympus later and convince Zeus of his innocence, but later that night Percy plans to sneak out. Grover and Annabeth catch him and plan to accompany him personally, but first they stop at Luke's cabin. Luke tells them that getting into the Underworld is easy, but a trip there is usually one-way. He gives them a map to find Persephone's pearls. After they get one pearl, the map shows them where to find the next. He also gives Percy an expandable shield and Winged Shoes that he stole from his dad's (Hermes) house.

Medusa and the First Pearl

File:Percy jackson and the olympians 02 (1).jpg

Uma Thurman as Medusa.

They discover that the first pearl is in Aunty Em's Garden Emporium and so they travel there. They split up in hopes of finding the pearl faster. Grover realizes that they are in the lair of Medusa and runs to find his friends. Annabeth runs into a scared woman who tells her that her husband was turned to stone but on their way out, Medusa, wearing a turban and sunglasses, finds them. They close their eyes as Medusa removes her turban and sunglasses but the woman could not resist the temptation to look and is turned to stone. Percy manages to get Medusa's attention and as she leaves, Grover helps Annabeth. Medusa corners Percy and she demands he give her the lighting bolt. Percy says he doesn’t have it so Medusa tries to make Percy open his eyes so that way she can turn him into stone. Medusa says it would be a pity to destroy a handsome face and caresses his nose as snakes attack his face, but he is saved when Grover and Annabeth crash a car into her statues, distracting her. She gets up, but notices Percy's iPod on the floor. She picks it up and studies it. Percy takes advantage of the situation and decapitates her. They take the pearl from her bracelet and decide to keep her head because the eyes can still petrify people. They put it in Grover's hoodie and leave to find the second pearl.

The Hydra and the Second Pearl

Hydra Attacks

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover against the Hydra.

Afterwards, they go to the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee and find the pearl on the crown of the statue of Athena. Since the place is public, they hide in the bathroom until after closing time. Annabeth knocks out the five janitors and Percy uses the flying shoes to get the pearl, but as they are about to leave, the janitors transform into the Hydra. Percy drops the pearl and flies up to behead the five-headed Hydra but for every head he cuts off, two more grow back. Percy makes a wall of water in front of him in order to shield him from the Hydra and allow him to get the pearl. On their way out the Hydra breaths fire at them, but at that moment, Grover uncovers Medusa's head, effectively stopping the fire and petrifying the Hydra.

The Lotus Hotel and Casino and the Final Pearl

Lotus Hotel and Casino in The Lightning Thief film

The Lotus Casino.

They go to the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where the final pearl is located. They are offered Lotus Flowers that make visitors who eat them become forgetful and ignorant, thereby making them want to stay in the hotel forever. The three eat the flowers which result into their decision to stay for a while. When Poseidon's voice warns Percy about the flowers, he snaps out of it. He then bumps into someone who believes the year is 1971 and decides to leave. He gets Grover and Annabeth out of their trance and gets the last pearl from a roulette. The hotel owners and workers advance on them, trying to keep them there, forcing the trio to fight the hotel's guards. They steal a Maserati car and crash out of the hotel at high speed. When they see the present day's date, they notice they had been in the hotel for five days even though they thought that they had been there for only a few hours. They then travel to the Underworld in Hollywood in the stolen car.

The Underworld

Underworld

The Underworld.

When they find the entrance to the Underworld, they pay Charon with drachmas and he takes them to the palace of Hades. They are attacked by hellhounds but Persephone saves them and takes them to Hades. When Percy tells them that he is not the lightning thief, Hades releases Sally and orders them to be fed to the souls and hellhounds causing Percy to drop his shield. A part of the shield opens, revealing the master bolt. Hades takes the bolt; however, he does not keep up his end of the bargain believing Percy had lied earlier, so Persephone knocks him out. They decide to take the bolt to Olympus but they only have three pearls, one for each person, so Grover decides to stay with Persephone, as he is Percy's protector.

Luke's Betrayal

When they make it to the Empire State Building safe and sound with Zeus's Master Bolt all together, Luke reveals he was the actual lightning thief and he wanted to start a war to make a new age of the gods. He steals the bolt from Percy and they have a battle around New York City flying with each of their pairs of Hermes's shoes. In the end, Luke gains an advantage over Percy, however, he sets off Percy, who uses water from the water tanks to crush Luke. Luke drops the bolt, and Percy hurls him over the East River with a trident made of water. Then he flew back to the Empire State Building.

Percy Jackson G 05

Percy controls water

Returning the Master Bolt

Right after defeating Luke, Percy, and Annabeth arrive on Olympus one minute before the war amongst the gods starts. Percy gives the bolt back and reveals to every god and goddess, that Luke, son of Hermes, was the actual thief who stole it. Percy tells Zeus about leaving Grover behind in the Underworld, and Zeus promises Percy that he will bring Grover back. Poseidon gets a chance to talk to Percy and tells him why he left Sally. Percy learns that the law Zeus made forbidding gods to have contact with their mortal children was because Poseidon had spent too much time with Percy, making Poseidon slowly become human. Although he does not completely forgive Poseidon, Percy is happy that Poseidon does love him. Before Percy leaves for Camp Half-Blood, Poseidon tells him that, even though he regrets that Percy was born, Percy's mom was "...a queen amongst queens..." This makes Percy think over about what to do with his first stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, who treated Percy like garbage.

Ending

Percy decides to go back to camp and Sally tells him that she kicked Gabe out. Grover returns to camp with his new horns, and Percy is last seen training with Annabeth.

After the credits roll, it shows the scene where Sally kicks Gabe Ugliano out. Too lazy to carry his own stuff in which he complains about who should help him, he decides to get a beer from the fridge but finds it padlocked with a warning note from Percy. It says, "Do not open this refrigerator under any condition! Ever!!! No matter what!" However, stupid that he is, Gabe ignores the warning, breaks off the lock, and opens the fridge. Inside is Medusa's head. His eyes are unprotected from any cover, so Gabe gets turned to stone (though it is heard but never shown in fear of little children dreading it).( ಠ ͜ʖಠ)

Deleted and Extended scenes

There are 10 deleted and extended scenes found in the Blu-ray version of the film. Five of these are also featured in the DVD version, depending on the region.

  • The Museum – Grover Photographs Aphrodite - This scene features Grover taking a pictures of a bust of Aphrodite. Mr. Brunner then asks the class what that makes Grover, wherein one of his classmates (Nancy Bobofit) calls him a "perv."
  • The Infirmary – Percy Meets Annabeth - This scene features Annabeth uttering her famous line from the book, "You drool when you sleep" to Percy.
 	PERCY_JACKSON_AND_THE_LIGHTNING_THIEF_DELETED_SCENE_The_Infirmary_-_Percy_Meets_Annabeth 	 			  
  • Aphrodite’s Daughters – Grover Jumps Into Spa - This is an extended scene that features Grover jumping into the spa with Aphrodite's daughters.
 	Deleted_scene_-_Aphrodite's_daughters 	 			  
  • Int. Bus – Percy Looks At The Map - This scene features Percy looking in the map while in the bus to retrieve the pearl of Persephone.
  • Auntie Em’s – Medusa Chases Percy - This is an extended scene where Medusa is shown saying "You smell fresh, like the ocean" while chasing Percy.
 	Medusa_Chases_Percy_-_Percy_Jackson_and_the_Lightning_Thief_Extended_Scene 	 			  
  • Int. Pickup Truck – Grover Talks About Zeus’s daughter - This scene features Grover talking about Thalia Grace.
 	Percy_Jackson_Deleted_Scene_-_Grover_and_Percy_Talk 	 			  
  • Lotus Hotel and Casino – Grover Dances - This scene features Grover dancing to the song "Beware."
 	Grover_Dances_-_Percy_Jackson_and_the_Lightning_Thief_Deleted_Scene 	 			  
  • Lotus Hotel and Casino – Percy Meets 50’s Guy - This scene features Percy talking to a guy from the 1950s.
  • Lotus Hotel and Casino – Percy, Annabeth and Grover Fight The Guards - This is an extended scene that features Percy, Annabeth, and Grover fighting the guards.
 	Percy_Jackson_-_Diebe_im_Olymp_-_Deleted_Scene_Lotus_Land_Casino 	 			  
  • Hades’ Mansion – Hades Talks To Percy - This is an extended scene that features Hades explaining to Percy the misery of the Lord of the Underworld.

Cast

Uncredited

Music

Main article: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (soundtrack)

The score for the film is composed by Christophe Beck.

Differences from the Book

Main article: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief/Differences from the book

Sequel

Main article: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

The sequel, based on The Sea of Monsters, was released on August 7, 2013.

Video Game

Main article: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (video game)

A video game for the film was released on February 9, 2010 on the Nintendo DS handheld console. It was developed by Activision.

Trivia

  • The official teaser, which mimicked the scene from the book where Percy enters the Empire State Building's public entrance and gets a card from the guard, features footage that was not used in the film.
  • The region 3 DVD for the film says that Percy needs to travel with his "demigod friends" when in fact, only Annabeth is his demigod friend in the film since Grover is a satyr.
  • Ray Winstone was not credited for his role of Ares, as his part was cut from the film.
  • Contrary to the belief, Rick Riordan did not write the script for the movie or even see it, for fear that it would change the way he saw his original characters.
  • When they drive off from the Casino, they are in a Maserati, which happens to have the trident as its emblem.
  • The substitute teacher, Mrs. Dodds, writes, "I understand the fury in your words, But not your words," from Othello 4.2 on the blackboard. This is a reference to her true form as Alecto, the fury.
  • The statue of Athena at the Parthenon in Tennessee has a carving of Medusa on her chest plate.
  • Many of the book fans call the movies'The Peter Johnson Movies', referring to what Dionysus (Mr. D) calls Percy Jackson. They call it this because of its differences from the books.

Gallery

References

Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Core Series: The Lightning Thief | The Sea of Monsters | The Titan's Curse | The Battle of the Labyrinth | The Last Olympian
Main Characters: Percy Jackson | Grover Underwood | Annabeth Chase | Tyson | Clarisse La Rue | Thalia Grace | Nico di Angelo | Chiron | Luke Castellan | Rachel Elizabeth Dare
Secondary Characters: Sally Jackson | Travis Stoll | Connor Stoll | Mrs. O'Leary | Silena Beauregard | Charles Beckendorf | Paul Blofis | Blackjack | Zoë Nightshade | Bianca di Angelo | Juniper | Ethan Nakamura | Daedalus
Minor Characters: Gabe Ugliano | Argus | Tantalus | Hylla Ramírez-Arellano | Frederick Chase | Michael Yew | May Castellan | Austin Lake | Kayla Knowles | Maria di Angelo | Will Solace | Elevator Security Guard
Olympian Gods: Zeus | Hera | Poseidon | Demeter | Ares | Athena | Apollo | Artemis | Hephaestus | Aphrodite | Hermes | Dionysus | Hades | Hestia
Minor Gods: Amphitrite | Ariadne | Ganymede | Hecate | Iris | Janus | Morpheus | Nemesis | Pan | Phobos | Deimos | Persephone | Triton
Titans: Kronos | Atlas | Calypso | Iapetus | Krios | Hyperion | Oceanus | Prometheus
Mythical Creatures: Minotaur | Centaur | Furies | Satyr | Cyclops | Manticore | Ophiotaurus | Nemean Lion | Empousa
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | The Demigod Files | Demigods and Monsters | The Ultimate Guide | The Heroes of Olympus | The Trials of Apollo | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection | The Lightning Thief: Illustrated Edition | Disney+ Series
Percy Jackson
Films: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Main Characters: Percy Jackson | Annabeth Chase | Grover Underwood | Tyson | Clarisse La Rue
Secondary Characters: Sally Jackson | Chiron | Luke Castellan | Chris Rodriguez
Minor Characters: Gabe Ugliano | Oracle of Delphi | Ferdinand Underwood | Hysterical Woman | Charon | Ethan Nakamura | Silena Beauregard | Thalia Grace
Olympians: Zeus | Poseidon | Hades | Athena | Dionysus | Hermes | Ares | Hephaestus | Demeter | Hera | Apollo | Artemis
Minor gods: Persephone | Ganymede
Titans Kronos
Monsters: Alecto | Minotaur | Medusa | Hydra | Hellhound | Cyclops | Colchis Bull | Laistrygonian Giant | Manticore
Related Content: 20th Century Fox
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