Fox finally gets off their butt with a Percy Jackson sequel

I thought Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was a welcome surprise last year. Greek mythology is a favorite subject of mine, and I liked the way the film brought the fantastical world of gods and monsters into the modern age. Even director Christopher Columbus didn't bother me all that much for once. The film was a pretty good start to what looked like a clear cut successor to Harry Potter, and while the $226M worldwide gross wasn't a barnburner, it was good enough to expect more in the future. 

Then nothing happened. No news on a sequel ever materialized. 20th Century Fox stayed totally mum on the subject. Was Percy Jackson dead before it ever really got started? Well, no, as The LA Times reports that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski(Agent Cody Banks) have been hired to pen the script.  The sequel will be based on the second book in Rick Riordan's 5-issue series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters.

The story this time would see Percy and his crew venturing into the Sea of Monsters to retrieve the Golden Fleece.  The cast, including ex-Spidey hopeful Logan Lerman, are all expected to return. On the other hand, Chris Columbus is not. He'll be producing only, with Fox looking elsewhere to direct. If they manage to round one up soon enough there's a chance the film could shoot as early as this summer.