Disney Doubles Down on Star Wars Horror Despite The Acolyte’s Stumble

Star Wars might finally be ready to go full spooky. After The Acolyte dipped a toe into horror vibes, a new rumor says Lucasfilm is actively developing a straight-up Star Wars horror project. If that sounds out of left field, it actually lines up with something Andor boss Tony Gilroy hinted at months ago.

The rumor and where it started

Scooper DanielRPK says a Star Wars horror project is in the works at Lucasfilm. No title, no logline, no cast, no timeline. Just the genre. For what it’s worth, the galaxy far, far away has played with horror before in animation and on the book side, but live-action has barely touched it outside of a few isolated moments. If this thing is real, it would be new territory on screen.

Gilroy kind of said this was happening

Back in April 2025, Tony Gilroy told Business Insider that a horror TV show was being developed at Lucasfilm. He also pushed for the franchise to stretch into different genres, and given his seat at the table with Andor, he’d be in a position to hear things.

"They’re doing that. I think they’re doing that. I think that’s in the works, yeah. I’m agnostic about what should be done. I was riffing on the thing where I said, 'Oh, do a three-camera comedy,' so I was riffing. Sometimes riffing doesn’t work with the Star Wars community."

Translation: he believes a horror project exists, and he’s generally pro-experiment, even if the internet is not always pro-riff.

So what does this mean post-Acolyte?

The Acolyte wasn’t a fan favorite. Critics were kinder than the general audience, but the overall response skewed rough. Still, the show did try something different: a darker story poking around the Sith and the uglier corners of the lore. That was the hook for a lot of people at the start. The problem is, the end result didn’t land with enough fans to justify more, and Disney shelved plans for future seasons.

Showrunner Leslye Headland later said the risk was baked in: brand-new era, brand-new characters, and none of the usual Star Wars safety nets. No Stormtroopers to lean on, and none of the political-war machinery that Andor used so well. In other words, the training wheels were off by design.

If the horror project happens, it has a lane

A focused horror play could deliver the eerie, mythic, messed-up Star Wars energy The Acolyte teased. The IP has the ingredients for it: ancient cults, cursed artifacts, Force nightmares, creatures you should absolutely not follow into a cave. It’s a smart swing if they commit.

What we actually know (and what we don’t)

• Rumor: Lucasfilm is developing a Star Wars horror project, per scooper DanielRPK.
• Gilroy said in April 2025 that a horror TV show was in the works at Lucasfilm, which lines up with this.
• No title, creatives, characters, or logline have leaked. No release window either.
• Star Wars has flirted with horror in animation and publishing, but live-action has mostly avoided it.
• The Acolyte pushed darker ideas but drew a polarized response; Disney moved on from future seasons.
• The Acolyte is streaming now on Disney+ (USA).

Bottom line: there’s smoke, and Gilroy added a little wind to it. Whether it turns into an actual show or film is the question. If it does, I’m in. Give me haunted temples and Force folklore that keeps the lights on.