4. The Percy Jackson Franchise (2010, 2013)
Based on the book series by Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians franchise attempted to fill a Harry Potter-sized hole in audiences’ hearts with its creative reimagining of Greek mythology.
In the films, Percy is a demi-God and the son of Poseidon, and he finds himself taken to Camp Half-Blood where he meets countless other demi-God teenagers. He then sets off with his friends on an adventure to recover one of Zeus’ lightning bolts in order to prevent a war breaking out on Mount Olympus.
There’s so many ways in which both the book and the movies use liberally reworked elements from Greek mythology that it’s hard to narrow it down to just a few examples. To Riordan’s credit, it’s an entertaining adventure series, and the films are enjoyable enough, but they still took way too many creative liberties with the mythology to ever land Riordan on a classical historian’s Christmas card list.
Two unfaithful cinematic adaptations later, and the franchise has seemingly gone to the Underworld.