No more ‘Percy Jackson’: 5 reasons why the YA movie franchise failed

While “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” is hardly in the same league as blockbuster Young Adult movie adaptations like “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” or the recently-released “Divergent,” the mythologically-themed action-adventure did manage to bring in nearly $200 million global box office dollars.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that that would be enough clams to justify a sequel. But according to “Noah” star Logan Lerman, who played Percy Jackson in 2010’s “The Lightning Thief” and 2013’s “Sea of Monsters,” the third film in the series -- “The Titan’s Curse” -- probably won’t be happening.

"It's been a great experience for me," Lerman recently told MTV News about his “Percy Jackson” experience. "It's opened up a lot of doors for me, but I don't think it's happening."

The “Percy Jackson” franchise now joins the likes of "The Mortal Instruments" and "The Host" in the dustbin of recent multi-part young adult adaptations that petered out before being completed. Why did it fail? After all, like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent," it came from a beloved book series with a huge built-in fan base. What did "Percy Jackson" do wrong that the successful franchises did right?

Well, there were a few things.

It was derivative
The “Percy Jackson” series was always trying to be the next “Harry Potter” or the next “Hunger Games” movie. All of those films incorporated elements that were very similar to those other series, like fantasy creatures, half-bloods, teens surviving in the wilderness, and Stanley Tucci. Even before the movies were made, “Percy Jackson” author Rick Riordan's books drew comparisons with Potter, which naturally made the series an attractive target for Hollywood producers looking to capitalize on the success of those other franchises.

Of course, one could easily argue that a series like “Divergent” is also derivative of “The Hunger Games,” but it’s also fair to say that "Divergent" had enough unique elements to differentiate itself from the pack. Young moviegoers have seen cyclops and sea monsters plenty of times before, but when it came to "Divergent," they haven’t seen a faction-based dystopian society in post-apocalyptic Chicago.

The sequel gap
Teen moviegoers are now accustomed to a year -- maybe a year and a half, at most -- between movie sequels. There were three (!) whole years between "The Lightning Thief" and "Sea of Monsters" -- practically an eternity in the world of teen franchises.Three years between sequels was far too big a gap for fickle young audiences to tolerate.

At the height of their popularity, comparable franchises like “Harry Potter” and “The Twilight Saga” both released the two final movies in their respective series within a year of one another. Similarly, there was about a year and a half between the first two “Hunger Games” flicks, and the final two films in that franchise (parts one and two of “Mockingjay”) look to be following the “Harry Potter” model in terms of releasing them less than a year apart. The first “Percy Jackson” movie was long forgotten by the time the second film arrived in theatres.

The star power (or lack thereof)
Despite being based on a bestselling series of novels, the first “Percy Jackson” movie was largely marketed to non-fans on the strength of its supporting cast of actors: established grown-up stars like Sean Bean, Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman, and Pierce Brosnan. It’s the same formula the “Harry Potter” series employed by hiring established and respected thespians like Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, and Maggie Smith. The average moviegoers weren't going to see “The Lightning Thief” for the younger, largely unknown actors like Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, and Alexandra Daddario -- they were going to see it for the big names.

Those stars helped the first “Percy Jackson” movie become a modest success, but they didn’t do much for the sequel, seeing as none of the adult actors from “The Lightning Thief” reprised their roles in “Sea of Monsters.” The young cast, though slightly more established this time around, still weren't enough of a box office draw for the casual viewer.

A lack of adult star power also halted the similarly-themed “Mortal Instruments” series in its tracks. “The Hunger Games” had Jennifer Lawrence (then fresh off her first Oscar nomination) in the lead, and “Divergent” had Oscar winner Kate Winslet in a supporting role. Meanwhile, “Sea of Monsters” and “City of Bones” were populated with talented but nonetheless young and unknown actors.

The YA glut
Let’s face it: There are a lot, a lot, a lot of young adult-oriented movies nowadays. Everyone and their mother has a YA novel they want to be the next “Harry Potter” or “Hunger Games,” and the market is now so saturated with these sorts of films that even the bestselling “Percy Jackson” franchise comes off as nothing but background noise.

The box office numbers
Then there are the financial realities of the movie-making business. When it comes to franchise pictures, even the $200 million that "Sea of Monsters" earned globally isn’t enough to justify the $90 million budget (which doesn't even include marketing costs), let alone another sequel. This type of films has to offer fantastic return on investment (like the ridiculously successful “Harry Potter,” “Twilight Saga,” and “Hunger Games” movies) to make follow-ups financially viable. Loyal fanbases mean nothing if the average moviegoer doesn’t show up. It’s called show business for a reason.

So, that’s all she wrote for Percy Jackson and the Olympians. We hope short-lived film series hopefully teaches studios and filmmakers to quit worrying about which book franchise is going to be the next “Harry Potter” or “Hunger Games” and start thinking about giving audiences something they haven’t seen before.

At the end of the day, it’s not the familiar formula that sells -- it’s originality. The sooner Hollywood realizes that, the sooner we will all have another big franchise on our hands.