In a blunt admission that demonstrates Disney’s ongoing struggles with mismanaged Star Wars projects, Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, revealed why ill-fated canceled series The Acolyte was axed after a single season.
Speaking with Vulture, Bergman didn’t mince words about the show’s failure, highlighting it as an extravagant misallocation of resources that couldn’t sustain a second installment.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: (L-R) Alan Bergman, Co-Chairman, Disney Entertainment, Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm, Leslye Headland and Asad Ayaz, Chief Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company and President, Marketing, The Walt Disney Studios and Disney attend the launch event for Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
“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,” Bergman said. “So that’s the reason why we didn’t do that.”
The Acolyte was not just another addition to the Star Wars universe. The series, brought to life by Harvey Weinstein’s former personal assistant Leslye Headland, was a financial black hole.
UK tax documents unearthed by That Park Place revealed that Lucasfilm and Disney shelled out a staggering £172 million (approximately $231 million USD) for the series’ production. With a mere eight episodes, this translates to an exorbitant $28.75 million per episode.
Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
That figure highlights Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy’s reckless spending of Disney shareholder money without regard to audience engagement or narrative integrity.
Despite its hefty budget, the series failed miserably, barely registering on the Nielsen Top 10 Original Streaming chart with 488 million watch minutes before vanishing from the spotlight within weeks. Even the finale’s brief resurgence, garnering 335 million watch minutes, wasn’t enough to mask the show’s profound shortcomings.
Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
The Acolyte didn’t just underperform financially—it also disrupted George Lucas’s meticulously crafted Star Wars lore.
Intended as a prequel exploring the dark side’s rise, the series instead devolved into a hollow exercise in virtue signaling, prioritizing political correctness over storytelling. The aggressive online backlash, fueled by its female-driven narrative and divisive undertones, exposed the deep disconnect between Disney’s creative ambitions and its core fanbase.
Amandla Stenberg, the show’s vapid lead who played two characters with one shared facial expression, wasn’t shy about her disappointment.
Osha Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
In an eight-and-a-half-minute Instagram video, she attributed the series’ demise to a “rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hateful language towards us.” In her bloviating false narrative, the young actress never focused on the actual problem. The show was very expensive and no one watched it!
The Acolyte is merely the latest in a string of Disney and Lucasfilm flops that squander vast sums without delivering on quality or audience interest.
Andor has already reportedly consumed at least $645 million USD, while the Willow reboot, another overblown project, was wiped from existence by CEO Bob Iger to cover financial losses for tax purposes. These ventures reflect a troubling trend of prioritizing high-profile, high-cost projects over sustainable and audience-aligned content.
Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Leslye Headland, creator of The Acolyte, once claimed she’d take responsibility for the show’s failure should it come to that. However, following the show’s cancellation she has yet to issue any kind of “my bad” statement. Her wife, however, shared memes on social media blaming it on racism and the fans, so that might be an indicator of how the show’s failure is perceived within the Headland household.
In an attempt to salvage Disney’s tarnished reputation, Bergman floated the possibility of second seasons for other Star Wars projects like Andor and Ahsoka. However, given Lucasfilm’s recent track record, these promises ring hollow. Bergman’s remarks about ensuring future projects “have to be great” come off as a desperate attempt to placate disappointed fans while doing little to address the systemic issues plaguing Disney’s Star Wars ventures.
Mae Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg with Pip [Jack Parker (performed by)] in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Alan Bergman’s acknowledgment of The Acolyte as a financial and creative failure is a stark reminder of Disney’s ongoing mismanagement of the Star Wars franchise.
The series not only drained hundreds of millions but also fractured the beloved lore for the sake of empty virtue signaling. As Disney continues to chase high-budget projects without learning from past mistakes, the future of Star Wars on Disney Plus remains uncertain. Until the company aligns its financial strategies with genuine storytelling and audience respect, more costly disasters like The Acolyte are likely on the horizon.
Are you surprised that Alan Bergman was partially honest about The Acolyte? Do you think Lucasfilm will find a way to bring the maligned series back to streaming? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
