Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman has confirmed that The Acolyte’s fate was sealed by its hefty budget rather than its divisive reception among Star Wars fans. In an interview with Vulture, Bergman explained the decision to end the series after its eight-episode run. “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 series initially showed promise, launching on June 4 with an impressive 4.8 million views on its first day, marking Disney+’s biggest series premiere of the year. Within five days, viewership reached 11.1 million globally. However, momentum faltered after the show’s strong Nielsen ratings debut at No. 7 (488 million minutes viewed). Despite climbing to No. 6 the following week, the series dropped from the Top 10 in Week 3, only returning for its finale with the smallest viewership numbers (335M minutes) of any Star Wars series conclusion on the platform.
Lead actor Amandla Stenberg addressed the cancellation on Instagram Stories (via Deadline): “There are many folks out there that I want to acknowledge and I want to show appreciation and love and support for, so that’s why I’m hopping on here to talk about this, which is that our Star Wars show has been canceled.” They continued, “I’m gonna be transparent and say that it’s not a huge shock for me. 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.”
Despite the controversy, Stenberg maintained a positive outlook: “Even though, of course I’m very sad about the show being canceled, and I’m sad about us not being able to give people invested in it more, I still just feel a lot of levity and joy around the fact that I got to experience it and that people loved it and that people were so responsive.”
Meanwhile, Bergman expressed optimism about the franchise’s newest addition, Skeleton Crew. “We’ve seen some growth on that,” he noted. “As you said, the reviews have been excellent on Skeleton Crew, so we’ll have to see how that all plays out as it moves forward.”
The executive also provided updates on other Star Wars projects, confirming “Andor season 2, which we’re really excited about. It is excellent. I’ve watched all the episodes, and it is a fantastic season.” He added that “Ahsoka season 2, which Dave Filoni is leading” is coming, along with “a number of additional series that are in development.”
Looking ahead to theatrical releases, Bergman highlighted “Mandalorian, which is coming out Memorial Day of ’26,” along with “a number of films that we are developing.” He emphasized, “When we’re ready, we’ll be making announcements as to what those are.” The Acolyte’s mixed reception – reflected in its 78% Rotten Tomatoes score – and subsequent cancellation highlights Disney’s continuing efforts to balance creative ambition with commercial success in expanding the Star Wars universe.
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