The axe has fallen on another Disney+ series as news that Star Wars: The Acolyte has been canceled after just one season. Star Wars: The Acolyte just wrapped up its first season about a month ago so it is a little surprising that a decision by Lucasfilm to drop the show came so soon given that other Marvel and Star Wars projects sometimes go into a state of limbo for years at a time. Series showrunner, creator, executive producer, and director, Leslye Headland had pitched ideas for a second season for which the first season began laying the groundwork but these stories may have to wait for another time, as is common for other projects to borrow ideas from those begun elsewhere.
Star Wars: The Acolyte debuted with an impressive 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and became the most-watched Disney+ premiere this year with 11.1 million views worldwide in just five days along with earning it a No. 6 spot in Nielsen’s top 10 list during its second week, but the show’s viewership would not last. As the series progressed numbers continued to drop and while there was a brief spike around mid-season after a significant storyline event, that was not enough to regain audience numbers.
Per Deadline:
- “The tally rose to 11.1 million views globally after five days of streaming. Corroborating Disney’s data, the series made its debut on Nielsen’s Top 10 originals chart in its premiere week at No. 7 (488 million minutes viewed), climbing to No. 6 the following week.”
- “But The Acolyte could not sustain the momentum, dropping out of the Top 10 in Week 3 and staying off before returning at No. 10 after the release of the finale (335M minutes, believed to be the lowest for a Star Wars series finale).”