Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief (2010): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief is about a teenager who learns that his father is Poseidon and that Zeus believes he has stolen the master lightning bolt. Directed by Chris Columbus, the 2010 film opens the story that Fox continued three years later in Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters.

When we meet Percy, he is a student who struggles with dyslexia and ADHD, sharing a home with his mother Sally and her unpleasant boyfriend Gabe. He has no idea that, high above him, Zeus has given the gods until the summer solstice to see the bolt returned, or else a war will begin.

The first real danger arrives on a school trip to a museum, where a Fury attacks him. His friend Grover and his teacher Mr. Brunner step in to drive her off, and the three run for Camp Half-Blood. There the truth comes out in one afternoon: Percy is a demigod, Grover is a satyr and Mr. Brunner is the centaur Chiron. Percy also meets a fellow camper named Annabeth and the camp's older student Luke, who will matter far more than he first seems to.

The film was released in February 2010 and sits first in the Percy Jackson movies in both release order and chronological order. If you are choosing where to begin, the Percy Jackson movies in order guide shows the whole sequence, which is short.

Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief came out in the US and UK on February 12, 2010, and in Australia a day earlier, on February 11, 2010, according to Box Office Mojo. Those dates are reported rather than confirmed by the studio.

The film opened to $31.2 million in its US opening weekend. It finished with $88.8 million at the domestic box office and $137.7 million internationally, for $226.5 million worldwide on a reported budget of $95 million. Screen Daily published its review of the film on February 11, 2010.

Studio and trade coverage does not record a premiere city or venue for the film.

The film is rated PG in the US and UK and M in Australia. At 118 minutes it is a little longer than the sequel, which runs 106 minutes.

The story of Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief moves from a museum and a road trip to Camp Half-Blood, Las Vegas, the Underworld and Olympus by way of the Empire State Building. Studio and trade coverage does not name the shooting sites, so these are the story settings rather than where the crew filmed.

Museum and road. Percy's school trip to a museum is where the Fury attacks, and the road that follows is where the Minotaur strikes.

Camp Half-Blood. The camp is where Percy learns what he is and meets Annabeth and Luke.

Las Vegas. The Lotus Casino traps the trio and sets up the film's biggest detour.

The Underworld. This is where the bolt turns up and where the confrontation with Hades plays out.

Manhattan and Olympus. The Empire State Building leads to Olympus, and the final fight with Luke spreads across Manhattan.

The film has a handful of production facts that are easy to check and often asked about. Here they are, drawn from Box Office Mojo, Screen Daily and TMDB.

• The film had a reported production budget of $95 million.
• It opened to $31.2 million in its US opening weekend.
• Chris Columbus both directed the film and is credited as a producer.
• It was produced by Fox 2000 Pictures, 1492 Pictures and Sunswept Entertainment and distributed worldwide by 20th Century Fox.
• Craig Titley wrote the screenplay.
• Stephen Goldblatt was the cinematographer and Christophe Beck the composer.
• The runtime is 118 minutes.
• Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson and Alexandra Daddario all returned for the sequel.

For a closer look at what the novels do differently, see Percy Jackson books vs movies. To rank this film against its sequel, head to Percy Jackson movies ranked, and for the full count, see how many Percy Jackson movies are there.