Percy Jackson and the Olympians creator Rick Riordan has revealed that the property's upcoming Disney+ series will use an upgraded version of The Mandalorian's famous virtual production technology.
On his personal blog, Riordan wrote about the "divine" quality of the show's raw footage. "Another reason why the raw footage is so great?" he rhetorically asked readers. "I am pleased to reveal a secret that I have been dying to share with you for over a year: Percy Jackson and the Olympians has partnered with Industrial Light and Magic to build a new Volume stage here in Vancouver, and we are the first people to use it!"
Riordan detailed how the new soundstage will be even more impressive than the one used by Disney and Lucasfilm. "Based on the groundbreaking technology that created The Mandalorian, our new Volume stage is an even more cutting-edge version of that wraparound virtual environment, making it one of the most advanced production stages in the world," he wrote. "We are using it for things that have never been attempted before, creating settings so realistic that if we do it right, you should never be able to guess which scenes were done on location and which were done on the stage."
The development of the Volume soundstage used for ILM's revolutionary StageCraft visual effects technology made shows like The Mandalorian possible. The Volume is made up of several oversized LED video walls that can display computer-generated environments in real time, all but eliminating the need for green screens. Following its successful implementation in the Pedro Pascal-led Star Wars series, other productions such as The Batman and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have begun to utilize the technology as well.
Riordan's blog post is just one of several examples showcasing the author's heavy involvement with the upcoming show. Unlike the film adaptations by 20th Century Fox, Riordan has immense creative authority over the Disney+ series, which he is executive producing along with his wife, Becky. Earlier in June, he wrote another blog post in which he told fans how busy he is with the production of Percy Jackson. "A lot of my day, then, is sitting in a dark tent with the other producers, watching the shots happen and giving feedback when needed -- which honestly isn't very often," Riordan explained. "The raw footage is amazing, even before any editing. While watching the filming, I'll have my laptop open to work on script revisions, or check updates to the schedule, or look at casting tapes for upcoming roles later in the season."
Percy Jackson and the Olympians has yet to receive a release date, but it will eventually premiere on Disney+.
Source: Rick Riordan