The first season of The Acolyte hasn’t even dropped yet; however, the online rumor mill maintains that Lucasfilm is pulling the plug on the upcoming Disney+ Star Wars series. So, is The Acolyte really cancelled?
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Did Lucasfilm Cancel The Acolyte?
Nope – not officially, at any rate. The Acolyte‘s first eight-episode season is still locked in for June 4, 2024, and its pre-release marketing campaign continues to ramp up. That said, the latest Acolyte cancellation rumors concern the show’s post-Season 1 future. That Park Place recently cited an unnamed source supposedly close to Lucasfilm who claimed the production company has already decided not to move forward with The Acolyte Season 2.
If true, this would effectively mean the High Republic-era series is effectively cancelled. “[Showrunner] Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte is DOA,” the source said. “Unless there’s a miracle of ratings, this is a one-and-done proposition.” That Park Place’s source further alleged that ILM’s chief creative officer, John Knoll, and Headland are no longer meeting to discuss plans for additional episodes of The Acolyte.
Neither Lucasfilm nor Disney+ has publically commented on That Park Place’s report. As such, it’s worth talking about The Acolyte‘s demise with a grain of salt for now. After all, this isn’t the first time online rumblings about the Star Wars show’s fate have proven false. In early 2023, multiple news outlets reported that Lucasfilm had fired Headland and shuttered The Acolyte. This wasn’t the case, and filming wrapped in June 2023, with Headland still at the helm.
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The Acolyte Showrunner Teases Season 2 Plans
Something The Acolyte cancellation reports do seemingly have right – in a general sense – is the question mark hanging over the show’s future. In an April 2024 Empire cover story, Headland confirmed that Lucasfilm hasn’t yet green-lighted any additional Acolyte seasons. Even so, the showrunner revealed she’s already consulted Lucasfilm’s in-house lore advisor, Pablo Hidalgo, about incorporating more pre-existing Star Wars characters in The Acolyte going forward.
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This tracks with an interview Headland gave Collider a month earlier. Here, Headland noted The Acolyte was always designed as a longer-form story. “I would say that when I pitched [The Acolyte], I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show,” she said. “There are a lot of things at the end of this season that I think are narrative threads that are not tied up, for sure.” At the same time, Headland promised fans that Season 1 won’t end on an “emotional cliffhanger.”
The Acolyte premieres on Disney+ on June 4, 2024.
