Leslye Headland Opens Up About The Acolyte Cancellation: What Comes Next
One year after Disney+ pulled the plug on The Acolyte, creator Leslye Headland opens up in The Wrap about what blindsided her in the decision and how the Star Wars series ended after just one season.
Leslye Headland is finally talking about The Acolyte getting cut loose, and to hear her tell it, the decision itself was not the shock. It was how fast it happened and how loudly it was handled.
What she says happened
In a new chat with The Wrap, about a year after The Acolyte was canceled following its one-season run on Disney+, Headland says she was told it came down to a mix of viewership and creative factors. The part that caught her off guard was the speed and the public rollout. She describes getting calls about the reaction, the criticism, and the numbers, and realizing where it was headed.
"I was not surprised by it. I think I was surprised at the swiftness of it and the publicness of it. I was surprised by how it was handled. But once I was getting particular phone calls about the reaction and the criticism and the viewership, I felt like 'OK, the writing's on the wall for sure'."
The numbers that did not tell one clean story
Here is the odd wrinkle: third-party tracker Luminate says The Acolyte was the No. 2 most-watched series on Disney+ in 2024. At the same time, the audience dropped off after the two-episode premiere. So, depending on which slice of data you look at, the show either performed really well or trailed off fast. Headland thinks, given it was a first-season swing that tried some different things, it might have been worth giving it more time to find the people it was made for. She also makes it clear the call was not hers to make, and she respects it even if it stings.
What the show was doing
Set near the end of the High Republic era, The Acolyte followed a former Padawan who teams back up with her Jedi Master to dig into a string of crimes. It had a very stacked cast:
- Amandla Stenberg
- Lee Jung-jae
- Dafne Keen
- Jodie Turner-Smith
- Carrie-Anne Moss
- Manny Jacinto
The backlash and the aftermath
The series took a beating on audience scores and was targeted with review bombing and racist attacks. That noise was impossible to ignore, but it has not chased Headland away from the galaxy far, far away. She says she has no regrets, she is still obsessed with Star Wars, and she stands by the show.
The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.