‘The Acolyte’ marked one of the least-watched ‘Star Wars’ series on Disney+ with 75% fewer viewers than ‘The Mandalorian’ by the end of its run, according to Nielsen ratings.
Reports showed that the series cost more than $200 million to produce, but didn’t attract enough viewership to justify it. That’s why, Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman said, the company canceled it shortly after its release.
Vulture asked Bergman in a recent chat, “Staying on the franchise front, let’s talk ‘Star Wars.’ It feels like it’s had a bumpier road of late compared to Marvel. ‘The Acolyte’ had many strong reviews and did well in the ratings its first week out, but you ultimately opted against a second season. Why didn’t you move forward?”
“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,” the executive revealed.
After the cancellation news, some cast members criticized the studio and ‘Star Wars’ fans for their negative reception of the series, which started long before it arrived on the platform.
Amandla Stenberg shared her thoughts on Instagram Stories, saying, “It’s not a huge shock for me. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality but for those who aren’t aware there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it.”
Meanwhile, co-star Jodie Turner-Smith targeted Disney for not defending the show against online backlash. “They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting f*cking dog-piled on the internet with racism and bullsh*t,” she told Glamour in October. “It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair.”
‘The Acolyte’ faced review bombing right before its release, and by the end of its first season, it had an 18% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Disney is now focusing on other ‘Star Wars’ projects like ‘The Skeleton Crew,’ released on December 2. The new series debuted to positive feedback and became the fourth most-streamed original series in the U.S. by December 8.
