Percy Jackson and the Olympians Fansite

Suburban Chicago News did an article on The Lightning Thief. Chris Columbus talking about the film, wanting to make it fun for the parents to take their kids to the movie. I think that’s good, since parents who don’t read the books, when they dish out around $50 to go see a movie with their kids, (that’s not really even including snack costs) they want to enjoy the movie they’re going to see. I think it’s good that he did the first two Harry Potter films, because he knows how to make a movie the whole family will enjoy. Anyways, here you go!

When Chris Columbus decided to adapt a popular children’s book, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, he went for the gold.

He optioned Rick Riordan’s best-selling kid lit novel about a teen who discovers he’s the descendant of a Greek god.

It wasn’t until he tested the final product on 8-year-olds could his universe finally relax.

“I screened it a few times for kids just to make sure, and it was a great response. What’s better than a woman with snakes coming out of her head,” says Columbus, referring to Uma Thurman’s Medusa character. “The kids went nuts. I think this is the film I made for my 12-year-old self.”

Calling from Rome on his press tour, Columbus certainly doesn’t have to worry about having his finger on young pulses. After all, he did direct the first two Harry Potter films, not to mention a little Chicago-based movie called “Home Alone.”

Dabbling in Greek mythology was a whole other world for Columbus. “It’s not every movie where you have Uma Thurman running around in a blue shower cap and later animating those snakes that would come out of her head,” he says. “She was thrilled, too, because she wanted to do something for her kids.”

Columbus, whose own kids range in age from 13 to 21, wanted to make a family-friendly film with a few jokes thrown in for the parents. (Medusa tells the son of Poseidon: “I used to date your daddy.”)

In the movie, the gods of Mount Olympus (and assorted creatures) literally walk out of the pages of Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology text and infiltrate his life. Zeus’ (Sean Bean) lightning bolt goes missing and he thinks Percy is to blame, so Percy and his friends have to find the real thief.

“When I first read the book, I loved the idea of combining Greek mythology in a modern, contemporary setting,” Columbus says. “It’s something new because I don’t think kids today have much knowledge of Greek myths.

“I remember learning about it in school, … but first, I had to do my own reading. What I found is that the Greek myths still work on so many different levels.”

Columbus also liked to link the idea that these young Greek gods have the same problems as modern high school students. “There’s nothing really different about what kids struggle through today and what the Greek gods went through,” says actor Logan Lerman, who plays Percy. “It’s all about having people understand you — no matter what. It’s about finding your own power.”

Lerman admits he wasn’t a Greek buff. “My knowledge of Greek mythology is based in eighth-grade history class,” he says. “I didn’t take the time to study it further until this movie.”

Columbus didn’t just make his cast read. They also had to get physical in front of green screens.

“The toughest part of this movie after doing the ‘Harry Potter’ films was to get the special effects just the way I wanted them,” Columbus says.

I didn’t just want to put the kids in front of green screens, but built real sets.”

Columbus is hoping for a good audience response. “We worked on this movie for two years and now comes the hardest part, which is waiting to see if people go to see it,” the director says. “Once I get over that hurdle, I’d love to do the next book in the series, which is called ‘Sea of Monsters.’ But we’ll see.”

One film Columbus won’t be returning to is “Harry Potter.”

“My kids are in high school and I just couldn’t take them out of school and move them to London for three years,” he says. “We did that on the first Potter films when they were young. To do it again and you get that weird Hollywood childhood. I want them to have a regular childhood and they have a good life in San Francisco.”

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