'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' sequel has a new director

The sequel to 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' will be directed by 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' director Thor Freudenthal. Christopher Columbus, who directed the first 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians,' will be the film's producer.

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Percy Jackson, played by Logan Lermna (3:10 to Yuma), holds Zeus' lightning bolt in 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians.' The films are based on the books by Rick Riordan.

A mild hit when it was released last year, there’s been some chatter every once in a while about a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, yet nothing concrete – until today. The L.A. Times is reporting that the film’s director Christopher Columbus (Harry Potter and the Scorcerer’s Stone) will be the sequel’s producer, as Fox has hired Diary of a Wimpy Kid‘s director, Thor Freudenthal.

According to a source familiar with the production who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of discussions, studio Fox 2000 has exercised the option on star Logan Lerman, essentially meaning that the young actor is locked down to reprise his role as Percy Jackson in a new picture. The company has also hired a director in Thor Freudenthal, best known for helming the similarly boy-oriented Diary of a Wimpy Kid; he’ll pick up where Lightning Thief director Chris Columbus left off. (Columbus will only produce this new movie.)

Fox has plenty of books to choose from in the series, as Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood) will write the sequel’s screenplay, which is said to be based on the book, Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters, follows Percy and his group of friends as they head to the titular sea to find the mythical Golden Fleece, as well as to free a friend who has been captured there, but look for the other books’ plots to be incorporated as well into the sequel.

Jon Peters blogs at Killer Film.

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