The Acolyte was a mystery-thriller set in the final days of the High Republic era, exploring shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers.
Lucasfilm has decided not to move forward with a second season of The Acolyte, a Star Wars spin-off series featuring Amandla Stenberg. This decision comes over a month after the first season, consisting of eight episodes, concluded on Disney+.
The news isn’t entirely unexpected. While The Acolyte received a respectable 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it polarized Star Wars fans, which was reflected in its overall viewership numbers.
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The series initially garnered significant attention due to its association with the popular Star Wars franchise. When The Acolyte premiered on June 4 with two episodes, it drew 4.8 million views on its first day, making it the biggest series debut on Disney+ in 2024. Within five days, the viewership had climbed to 11.1 million globally. The show also made a strong entrance on Nielsen’s Top 10 originals chart, debuting at No. 7 in its premiere week with 488 million minutes viewed and rising to No. 6 the following week.
However, The Acolyte struggled to maintain this momentum, dropping out of the Top 10 in its third week and only briefly returning to No. 10 after the finale, which garnered 335 million minutes of viewing—a figure believed to be the lowest for a Star Wars series finale.
Like other major streaming platforms, Disney+ has a high threshold for renewing expensive, high-end series, especially those with production costs exceeding $100 million per season. Despite The Acolyte‘s initial success, it didn’t meet the sustained viewership needed for a renewal.
In previous interviews, series creator, director, executive producer, and showrunner Leslye Headland had expressed her hopes for a second season, even pitching ideas for it.
Meanwhile, other Lucasfilm productions continue to thrive. The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm’s first and most successful Disney+ series to date, is moving forward, even crossing over into feature films with the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu. Additionally, Ahsoka, the series that preceded The Acolyte, has been renewed for a second season.
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The Acolyte was a mystery-thriller set in the final days of the High Republic era, exploring shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers. The story followed a former Padawan who reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, only to confront forces far more sinister than they had anticipated. The cast included Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Jodie Turner-Smith, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Carrie-Anne Moss.