In August, Disney announced the cancelation ofThe Acolyte. Now they shared the reason why.
Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, the Co-Chairmen of Disney Entertainment, gave an interview toVulture. It’s a very long, thoughtful discussion. Topics include business models, original programming for Hulu, FX, and ABC,Moana 2,The Mandalorian,Shōgun, Marvel Shows,Bluey, adult animation, and more.
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The Costly Ambition ofThe Acolyte
Midway through the conversation, we get this question from Josef Adalian and answer by Bergman:
Adalian: 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 Acolytehad 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? And can you offer any hint as to howSkeleton Crewis doing, or its future?
Bergman: So as it relates toAcolyte, 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.Skeleton Crewis 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 onSkeleton Crew, so we’ll have to see how that all plays out as it moves forward.
The “cost structure” Berman refers to is that Disney spent $231 million to makeThe Acolyte. The total came out after the siteThat Park Placereleased tax documents about the show’s production. It’s the second-most expensiveStar Warsshow ever.Andoris first with a budget of $250 million.
The entire budget for theRogue Onemovie was somewhere in the $200M to $300M range. The box office return crossed the $1 billion mark. How that translates to watch time and total viewer counts is a dark art kept from the public, but we can assumeThe Acolytefell short. Especially since only three total episodes landed in the Nielsen Top 10.
More Star Wars Movies And Shows
If you’re curious what else Bergman said aboutStar Wars:
Bergman: In terms of what’s coming up, we have Andor season two, which we’re really excited about. It is excellent. I’ve watched all the episodes, and it is a fantastic season. And then we haveAhsokaseason two, which Dave Filoni is leading. And then we’re looking at a number of additional series that are in development. WE’ll see what we decide to do. As I said earlier, they have to be great, and when we’re in a position where we think we have what we want, we’re going to move forward. In terms of the films, at this point we haveMandalorian, which is coming out Memorial Day of ‘26, and we’ve got a number of films that we are developing. When we’re ready, we’ll be making announcements as to what those are.
The Acolyte
