Earlier this year, Lucasfilm released a brand new original series on Disney+ called “Star Wars: The Acolyte”, which tells the story of an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….

While the series debuted to strong viewership, with the premiere episode pulling in 11.1 million views globally based on five days of streaming and becoming biggest series premiere on Disney+ of 2024 at the time.  

However, the series received a lot of negative reaction from viewers, which resulted in the viewership declining week to week, and within a few weeks of the season finale, it was revealed that the show would not be returning for a second season.

During a recent interview with the Walt Disney Studios president, Alan Bergman was asked why there wasn’t a second season of “Star Wars: The Acolyte”, to which he replied:

So as it relates to Acolyte, we were happy with our performance, but it wasn’t where we needed it to be given the cost structure of that title, quite frankly, to go and make a season two. So that’s the reason why we didn’t do that.

Since the initial cancellation, there has been an outpouring of support for the show online by fans, but there have also been lots of complaints about how the series just didn’t live up to expectations, which is why the viewing numbers plummeted following its premiere on Disney+.

The impact of the failure of “The Acolyte” has also spilled over onto other projects, as interest in the franchise has declined following Lucasfilm ramping up it’s production of different shows for Disney+, many of which failed to connect with fans due to a variety of different reasons.

Lucasfilm’s most recent series, “Skeleton Crew” was released on Disney+ earlier this month, and Alan was also asked about the future of “Skeleton Crew”, to which he said:

Skeleton Crew is in process now, so we’ll see. We’ve seen some growth on that. We’ll see how that goes. As you said, the reviews have been excellent on Skeleton Crew, so we’ll have to see how that all plays out as it moves forward.

In 2025, the second season of “Andor” will be released on Disney+ and in 2026, “The Mandalorian and Grogu”, will arrive in cinemas, though this was originally intended to be the fourth season of the hit series.  Highlighting how Disney has shifted its focus away from streaming to Disney+, with Alan being asked about comparing the new Mando film to “Moana 2”, which was also originally supposed to be a Disney+ series.

And with The Mandalorian, as we looked at our Star Wars slate, we made the same kind of consideration. So it’s really title by title. But for us, looking at our big franchises, there’s nothing like a theatrical release because of the marketing power you get across the world. And because we’re a global service, these titles play everywhere.

Roger’s Take:  While fans of the show no doubt want to see more adventures featuring the characters in “The Acolyte”, Disney is no longer just spending millions of dollars on content for its streaming platform just to bulk it out.  Each show needs to hit a certain viewership level and probably also a merchandise level, in order to be considered a success.  The failure of “The Acolyte” is going to have a ripple effect across Lucasfilm and Disney+.

“The Acolyte” is available to stream on Disney+.

Would you like to see a second season of “The Acolyte”?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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