'Star Wars' Series 'The Acolyte' Canceled After One Season | THR News Video
It's the end for 'The Acolyte.' The 'Star Wars' series will not return for season two. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Lucasfilm has opted not to continue the show, which aired its season one finale on Disney+ last month. The series earned respectable reviews from critics, but it was review-bombed by audience members who perceived it as, quote, "woke," leaving the show with an 18 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Transcript
00:00It's the end for the Acolyte. The Star Wars series will not return for Season 2.
00:05The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Lucasfilm has opted not to continue the show,
00:09which aired its Season 1 finale on Disney Plus last month. The series earned respectable reviews
00:14from critics, but it was review-bombed by audience members who perceived it as, quote,
00:18woke, leaving the show with an 18 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
00:22Those same viewers went after creator Leslie Hedlund, who is a member of the LGBTQ Plus
00:26community, as well as the show's diverse group of actors. Hedlund told THR in June,
00:31"'Honestly, I feel sad that people would think that if something were gay,
00:34that that would be bad. It makes me feel sad that a bunch of people on the internet
00:38would somehow dismantle what I consider to be the most important piece of art that I've ever made.'"
00:42Also in June, star Amandla Stenberg fired back at racist backlash with an original
00:46song on social media. According to sources, viewership data was not strong enough to
00:51prompt a Season 2. As far as the online turmoil's connection to the show's cancellation,
00:55one source told THR, it was an easy target, and it hurt the public perception of the show.
01:00The acolyte was set about 100 years before Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace.
01:04For much more on this story and all the latest news,
01:07head to THR.com. This is The Hollywood Reporter News.