Consider the Source: Percy Jackson & The Olympians

If you’ve seen the posters or trailers for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, you might think the new fantasy film is a little derivative of Harry Potter. That isn’t true, though. It’s actually highly derivative of Harry Potter. I’m actually a fan of Rick Riordan’s five-book series, but it’s hard to ignore the similarities to J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard, especially in the first book:

Harry Potter Percy Jackson, a boy who suffers from a lightning bolt scar dyslexia and ADHD, lives with his vulgar, boorish relatives stepfather. One day, an encounter with a flying owl harpy reveals the existence of a magical world of monsters and witches Greek gods, where he’s already famous as The Boy Who Lived a son of Poseidon. With the help of his aged, long-haired mentor Dumbledore Chiron, our young hero learns more of his heritage and powers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Camp Half-Blood, where students reside in separate houses cabins based on their divine parents, and enjoy playing Quidditch with broomsticks Capture the Flag with swords. Despite run-ins with the bullying Draco Clarisse, child of the powerful Malfoy family Ares, our hero finds two best friends in brainy female Hermione Granger Annabeth Chase and less nimble-witted comic relief Ron Weasley Grover Underwood. The first book depicts the search for a powerful talisman, The Sorcerer’s Stone Zeus’s Master bolt, and anticipates the return of a powerful, currently disembodied arch-nemesis, Lord Voldemort Chronos the Titan.