How Many Percy Jackson Movies Are There?

There are two Percy Jackson movies in total, and both were released by 20th Century Fox: Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief in 2010 and Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters in 2013. Neither is a spin-off, so the franchise count is two films plus no spin-offs. If you are choosing something for tonight, both are rated PG in the US and run under two hours, which makes the pair an easy double feature for most families. For the sequence and where each film sits, see the Percy Jackson movies in order guide, and for the wider franchise picture, head to the Percy Jackson movies hub.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), directed by Chris Columbus, reached US theaters on February 12, 2010 and runs 118 minutes. Logan Lerman plays Percy, a teenager with dyslexia and ADHD who lives with his mother Sally and her unpleasant boyfriend Gabe. When Zeus accuses Poseidon's demigod son of stealing his master lightning bolt, Percy has until the summer solstice to settle it before the gods go to war. A Fury attacks him on a museum school trip, and his friend Grover and his teacher Mr. Brunner help him escape to Camp Half-Blood. There he learns he is Poseidon's son, Grover is a satyr and Brunner is the centaur Chiron. Alexandra Daddario plays Annabeth Chase, Brandon T. Jackson plays Grover Underwood and Jake Abel plays Luke Castellan, with Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Uma Thurman and Rosario Dawson in the supporting cast. Christophe Beck composed the score. It grossed about $226 million worldwide on a $95 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), directed by Thor Freudenthal, opened in the US on August 7, 2013 and runs 106 minutes. Freudenthal was hired in June 2011 to replace Columbus, who stayed on as a producer, according to The Christian Science Monitor. Lerman, Daddario and Jackson all return. The story opens with a flashback to Thalia Grace, who sacrifices herself and is turned into a pine tree by Zeus, and her magic now protects the camp. Years later, other campers sneer at Percy as a one quest hero, and he meets Tyson, a cyclops who turns out to be his half brother. After a Colchis bull attacks, the campers learn that Luke has poisoned Thalia's tree, and Annabeth finds that the Golden Fleece could heal it. Mr. D hands the quest to Clarisse, played by Leven Rambin, and Douglas Smith plays Tyson. Andrew Lockington composed the score. It earned about $200 million worldwide on a $90 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. The full numbers sit on the Percy Jackson box office page.

How do the two films compare, and why does the count stop at two? The numbers point to a modest slide rather than a collapse. The Lightning Thief earned about $88.8 million in the US and Canada, while Sea of Monsters earned about $68.6 million, and each film returned a little over twice its budget worldwide (roughly 2.4 times for the first, 2.2 times for the second). It could be argued that this made the sequel a fair performer that still fell short of the first film, though no studio or trade paper has said that was the reason a third film never appeared. The sequel also changed shape behind and in front of the camera. Freudenthal replaced Columbus in the director's chair, Lockington replaced Beck as composer, and Anthony Stewart Head took over Chiron from Pierce Brosnan. The big name gods of the first film, Sean Bean's Zeus, Steve Coogan's Hades and Rosario Dawson's Persephone, give way to Nathan Fillion as Hermes and Stanley Tucci as Mr. D. The sequel is also shorter by twelve minutes and leans on a quest structure, with Clarisse leading the Golden Fleece mission, where the first film follows Percy's own race against the solstice deadline. The through line is the cast of young campers: Lerman, Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson anchor both films, and Jake Abel's Luke is the connecting thread, moving from friendly older camper in the first film to the saboteur poisoning Thalia's tree in the second. If you are deciding between them, the first film suits viewers who want the origin story, and the second suits those who already know the camp.

The characters carry across both films, so Percy Jackson characters is a good next stop, including Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood and Luke Castellan. The full billing is on the Percy Jackson cast page.

So, what came after the films? The story moved to television rather than a third film: Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a Disney+ series, and Season 3, based on The Titan's Curse, premieres on November 20, 2026, according to Disney. If you want to compare Rick Riordan's novels with the screen versions, the Percy Jackson books vs movies page covers it, and the Percy Jackson gods guide helps with the mythology.