Lucasfilm has decided to pull the plug on its pricey prequel series The Acolyte a little more than a month after the first season finale aired on Disney+.
Sources told Deadline on Monday there would be no second season of the mystery-thriller show – set a century before George Lucas’ prequel films – which depicted how the Sith infiltrated the Jedi during final days of the High Republic era.
Two-time Emmy nominee Leslye Headland made history as the first out queer person to create a Star Wars property with The Acolyte, which she told the New York Times in May cost ‘roughly $180M’ or an eye-popping $22.5M per episode.
In it, Amandla Stenberg pulled double duty as twin sisters Mae-ho ‘Mae’ Aniseya and Verosha ‘Osha’ Aniseya – the latter of which becomes a Padawan who reunites with her Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) to investigate a series of crimes.
The Acolyte also featured Carrie-Anne Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Manny Jacinto, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, Margarita Levieva, Lauren Brady, Leah Brady, Harry Trevaldwyn, and David Harewood.
The lightsaber-filled show received a ‘certified fresh’ 78% critic approval rating (out of 246 reviews), but a dismal 18% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes due to an obvious review-bombing campaign.
The Acolyte had a strong start launching the first two episodes on June 4, which generated 11.1M views globally in the first five days but it did not sustain through the July 16 finale despite a puppet cameo from Jedi Master Yoda.
Speaking of Yoda, it’s looking less likely there will be fourth season of The Mandalorian as creator Jon Favreau and producer Dave Filoni have parlayed the plot into the movie The Mandalorian & Grogu hitting theaters on May 22, 2026.
‘We just started filming a few weeks ago,’ Favreau informed the fans gathered inside Anaheim Convention Center on August 9.
‘But it’s D23 so we figured we’d stop by and at least say hello because it’s the last D23 before the movie comes out. So we had to put something together for you, right? It’s an all-new adventure following these two characters, and here’s a little taste of what we’re up to.’
Lucasfilm previously confirmed that a second season ‘is in development’ on The Mandalorian spin-off series Ahsoka, which stars Rosario Dawson as the former Jedi apprentice Ahsoka Tano.
Percy Jackson and The Olympians also scored a second season on Disney+ while American Born Chinese, Renegade Nell, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law have all been canceled.
