“The Adam Project’s” Walker Scobell Cast In Title Role In Disney+’s Live Action Series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”

Photo Credit: Disney/Paul Lorei

Walker Scobell (“The Adam Project”) has been cast in the titular role in Disney+’s fantastical live action series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” it was announced today by the streaming service. The epic adventure is based on—and closely aligned with—Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan. The Disney Branded Television series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios, and will go into production this summer.

“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus. 

Percy Jackson is a smart and compassionate kid with a sharp sense of humor. He’s always seen himself as an outsider, in no small part because of how the world sees his ADHD and dyslexia. He’s impulsive and rambunctious and is quick to anger when things seem unfair to him. But beneath his cynicism is an affectionate son and loyal friend who just wants to do right by those he cares about. If only he could find a place where he fits in.

Riordan and Jon Steinberg will serve as writers of the pilot episode, and James Bobin will direct. Steinberg will oversee the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. Steinberg and Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe and The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg.

When Walker Scobell was five, he learned that his favorite superhero Tony Stark – AKA Iron Man – was not an actual person but an actor playing a role. He decided right then that he wanted to become an actor. He said if he couldn’t become a superhero in real life, the next best thing would be to play one. After attending an actor’s workshop in L.A., Walker began his professional career. His first film acting role was in “The Adam Project,” and he filmed his second movie, “Secret Headquarters,” soon after. Walker loves the movie-making process and has fun utilizing his flipping and jumping abilities to perform many of his own stunts. He enjoys a variety of movie genres but always comes back to where it began for him – superheroes. At the top of his list of movie favorites are “Deadpool,” “Spider-Man” and “The Avengers.” When Walker is not acting, he enjoys spending time with his family, his friends, and his dogs. He also enjoys skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, lacrosse, and swimming. 

Walker is repped by A3 Artists Agency, Stagecoach Entertainment and Attorney Ryan LeVine.  

THE ADAM PROJECT – Review

What if you could make your peace with your own history? What if you could, as an adult, go back and make peace with your younger self, and make your peace with the parents we failed to understand when we were growing up? What if you could go back and reconnect with your parents with the benefit of a lifetime of wisdom and perspective? These are the questions director Shawn Levy asks in his latest film THE ADAM PROJECT. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldaña and Catherine Keener, the film is the story of a time-traveling pilot Adam Reed (Reynolds) who teams up with his younger self, (Scobell), and his late father, Louis Reed (Ruffalo) to come to terms with his past, and losses, while saving the future.

In this throwback to the sci-films from the 80’s, the filmmaker proves with THE ADAM PROJECT the power of nostalgia. It’s filled with themes movie going audiences witnessed and embraced with the likes of  E.T., THE LAST STARFIGHTER, EXPLORERS and BACK TO THE FUTURE, with a hint of RETURN OF THE JEDI, as well as exciting battles with time soldiers, evil villains, de-cloaking spaceships and disintegration effects.

At the heart of the story is how these characters come to terms with loss and the past. While Adam’s journey in saving the world involves reconnecting with his younger self and teaming up with his dead father, the driving force is what sent him on this path to begin with – his search for his wife Laura (Saldaña), who is sent into the past by time-traveling supervillain Sorian (Keener) who stole and profited from the invention created by the “Godfather of Time Travel” Louis (Ruffalo).

The chemistry between the young newcomer Scobell and Reynolds is spot on and their adventure adds a beautiful mix of adventure-fantasy with real character emotions.

The Adam Project – (L to R) Ryan Reynolds as Big Adam and Walker Scobell as Young Adam. Cr. Netflix © 2022

However the best scene and one driven by the quiet soulful acting of Reynolds is where a grown-up Adam offers his mother (Garner) the encouragement and acknowledgment of how she and her young son are both still grieving with the loss of husband and father. It’s something she never expects, but at the moment she needs it most. The father-son storyline may take center stage in The Adam Project, but it’s this one scene in particular that gave the film one of its most touching moments. “Boys always come back for their mamas.”

The Adam Project (L to R) Walker Scobell as Young Adam and Jennifer Garner as Ellie. Cr. Doane Gregory/Netflix © 2022

Huge thanks to Levy for casting Ruffalo and Garner, who previously starred in another fantasy film from 2004, as the couple Louis and Ellie Reed. Haven’t we all been waiting for a 13 GOING ON 30 reunion?

The Adam Project (L to R) Jennifer Garner as Ellie and Mark Ruffalo as Louis Reed. Cr. Doane Gregory/Netflix © 2022

Written by Jonathan Tropper and T.S. Nowlin & Jennifer Flackett & Mark Levin, THE ADAM PROJECT is filled with comedic banter and terrific action-packed sequences.

The Adam Project is the second creative collaboration between Levy and Reynolds off the heels of Free Guy and it was just announced the two will go for a third helping with DEADPOOL 3 as first reported by The Hollywood Reporter

Even Reynolds got in on the announcement over on Twitter.

Of note are the artists also bring the audience an emotional character story first and foremost and the time travel device to facilitate the story. Their work on THE ADAM PROJECT make the audience really care about the the characters’ journey in the end.

Visual Effects Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) delivers a certain wow-factor without tipping too far into sci-fi. The time soldiers’ decloaking and decimation effects (think cool digital poprocks candy) were created by VFX studio Scanline to give them a more tactile feel than what would traditionally be seen in sci-fi movies without it being too violent, Editor Dean Zimmerman (Free Guy, Stranger Things), who has worked with Shawn Levy for 20 years, beautifully cuts together a film that keeps the pacing of the story moving and provides some cool battle scenes, and Director of Photography Tobias Schliessler uses classic framing and uncomplicated lighting in order to draw the audience’s attention to the characters at all times.

What gives the film its emotional cohesiveness is composer Rob Simonsen’s simple score, while also making it sci-fi epic. He creates a futuristic feel with his use of orchestra and piano but keeps the human drama very human. Simonsen truly sets the tone for the entire film with the sound “The Adam Suite Theme.”

In the end THE ADAM PROJECT is a wonderful movie and a contemporary version of a movie really not being made anymore — the Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis-type action-adventure movie like The Last Starfighter, E.T. , The Goonies or Back to the Future – and one to watch with the family.

THE ADAM PROJECT is streaming now on Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/title/81309354

4 out of 4 stars.

THE ADAM PROJECT – (L to R) BTS of Ryan Reynolds as Big Adam and director Shawn Levy. Cr. Doane Gregory/Netflix © 2022