Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief trailer 02 (still pretty cool)

I actually saw this second teaser in front of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine blu ray the other day (I had rented it from Blockbuster on a free trade-in to listen to the commentaries, only to realize that it was one of Fox's barebones-rental-only versions). It was watching this second teaser (which is basically the first teaser preceded by about 50 seconds of new footage) that inspired me to track down the first trailer and do a blurb about it. This one is even better, with appearances by Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson, and a bad-ass-looking Sean Bean. What I said on Tuesday still stands. This too is a sleek, polished teaser that shows a confidence that was lacking is similar fantasy adaptations such as The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising or The Spiderwick Chronicles. While the film could still falter (and The Spiderwick Chronicles was actually pretty good), I'm intrigued both by the tease and the cast. This fantasy adaptation stars Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, the always reliable Sean Bean, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Steve Coogan, and Joe Pantoliano (happy 58th birthday). And lead Logan Lerman has a long list of solid credits, including a terrific turn as the young Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect (due to the time-traveling narrative, he gets almost as much screentime as Kutcher). Surely director Chris Columbus means business. And while some may carp over his first two Harry Potter films, Columbus absolutely aced the casting and made two solid fantasy films that built a foundation for the most successful franchise of all-time. So when Chris Columbus makes another adaptation of a young-adult fantasy series, I pay attention. This one comes out February 12th, 2010.

Scott Mendelson