Movies

New Star Wars show The Acolyte has been canceled at Disney+

BBG News

As a seasoned gamer and Star Wars enthusiast with a soft spot for unique storylines, I must say I am disheartened by the news of The Acolyte‘s cancellation. I was drawn to its intriguing premise, the mystery it unfolded, and the promising potential it held for further exploration.

It’s disappointing news for fans of “The Acolyte,” the recently launched Star Wars series on Disney+, as both the streaming platform and Lucasfilm have chosen against producing a second season. Given that the final episode was released less than a month ago, this cancellation decision seems swift. However, considering the mixed response the series received and its declining viewership, it’s not entirely surprising.

As reported by Deadline, the initial launch of “The Acolyte” consisted of two episodes, and these attracted approximately 4.8 million views on their premiere day. This figure marked the largest series debut of the year on Disney+. After five days, the viewership swelled to over 11.1 million views and maintained a steady level to secure a spot in the Nielsen Top 10 for the first two weeks following its release, ranking at Number 7 and Number 6 consecutively. According to Nielsen, the series was watched for an impressive 488 million minutes during that initial week, placing it on the chart.

Nevertheless, the TV series titled “The Acolyte” fell off the rankings during its third week, and it didn’t return to the Top 10 until the week of its finale. At that point, it managed to reach Number 10. According to Nielsen’s figures, the finale was watched for approximately 335 million minutes, which makes it the show with the lowest viewership for any “Star Wars” series that has been broadcasted on Disney+ so far. (It can be perplexing that we are discussing minutes here, while earlier we were talking about “views.” It can be challenging to make sense of viewership numbers from streaming platforms that guard their data closely.)

Initially, many people showed interest in “The Acolyte”, but unfortunately, not many stuck around till the end. In my view, this was unfortunate because “The Acolyte” improved as it progressed, particularly episodes 5-8 which contained some exceptional content. I wasn’t a die-hard fan of the series and found several flaws, but I believe it offered more originality compared to most Disney+ “Star Wars” productions. It seemed to have a lot of potential left unrealized by the time the final episode concluded. If given the chance for a second season, I believe “The Acolyte” could have grown even stronger and improved further.

Under the guidance of showrunner Leslye Headland, The Acolyte is a series that takes place long before the Star Wars prequel trilogy and centers around Osha (Amandla Stenberg), a former Jedi Padawan who reunites with her master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) to solve a series of baffling murders. As events unfold, they find themselves at odds with Osha’s twin sister Mae (also portrayed by Stenberg) and a sinister Sith named Qimir (Manny Jacinto). By the end of the season, the relationships among these characters have undergone significant changes, leaving viewers eagerly anticipating the next installment.

In time, we might uncover what could have been the next chapter for “The Acolyte”, perhaps in another format. The series did manage to gain a passionate fanbase, particularly due to its unique enemies-to-lovers storyline within the Star Wars universe – a rarity indeed. Regrettably, it also faced an overwhelming amount of criticism from certain sections of the Star Wars community; there were those who disliked the show so intensely that they mistakenly review-bombed a different movie with a similar title. “The Acolyte” was far from perfect, but it certainly didn’t deserve the level of hostility it received. Here’s hoping this wasn’t the reason behind Disney and Lucasfilm’s decision, and instead, it was due to lower-than-expected viewership numbers, as suggested by Deadline.

Indeed, it’s striking how series in today’s streaming era often have to either achieve phenomenal success or face cancellation. It’s surprising that even a show like “The Acolyte,” which has set the record for the highest debut of a Disney+ original this year, could be canceled so swiftly. According to Deadline, the bar for renewing high-budget original series at Disney is set very high, and unfortunately, The Acolyte failed to attract enough viewers to warrant another season.

To date, neither Lucasfilm, Headland, nor the cast of the show have spoken out about the cancellation. In the meantime, feel free to catch up on all eight episodes of The Acolyte on Disney+.

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2024-08-20 18:42

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