Disney
The series «Acolyte», set in the universe of «Star Wars», was canceled immediately after the first season was released — a decision that upset and surprised its creators, who tried to imitate George Lucas in every frame.
The question «what would George think?» or «what would George do?» was the guiding principle during filming for showrunner Leslie Gedland, as described in Gold Derby interview said cameraman Chris Teague.
«Leslie always asked: “What would George do? What would George think?” And that was our guiding principle,» says Teague, adding that Hedland «followed the mantra of reflecting» what George Lucas was trying to achieve back in 1977. «If we’re going to move the camera, it has to mean something. It has to emphasize some part of the narrative, or it has to be related to some aspect of the choreography, or something like that.
«Acolyte» — is a series set in a dark period known as the «High Republic» (approximately 100 years before the events of the movie «Star Wars. Episode I: The Hidden Threat»), and tells the story of a former Padawan who reunites with his Jedi master to investigate a series of crimes, but they encounter forces more sinister than they could have expected. Manny Jacinto, Amandla Stenberg, and also a star «Squid games» Lee Jong-jae, who, by the way, is a real person, studied English specifically for the role.
Initially, «Acolyte»demonstrated record views, however, the number of viewers dropped dramatically after the first two episodes, which eventually led to the cancellation of the extension. So far, the first season of only 19% «freshness» from the audience and a more or less decent 79% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Gedland has previously hinted at review bombing and said that such a reaction was quite expected for her.
Earlier, it became known that the eight series «Acolytes» cost Disney a staggering $180 million — actually $22.5 million per episode, or $630 thousand per minute of screen time.
Unfortunately for fans of «Star Wars», George Lucas never created a series in the universe before Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. There were ideas, though: franchise producer Rick McCallum revealed in a recent interview that Lucas was planning a show called «Star Wars: Underworld», which had 60 scripts and $40 million per episode.