‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ is the latest addition to the Star Wars franchise, spanning 8 episodes. The series received mostly negative reviews, criticized for allegedly pushing a woke narrative and for its overall low quality.
Nearly every aspect of the show faced backlash, including the story, writing, pacing, acting, costumes, and runtime. The only highlight was the lightsaber combat, but even those brief moments of action weren’t enough to keep fans engaged. After steadily losing viewers week after week, the show was canceled a few days ago.
This wasn’t entirely unexpected; a couple of weeks ago, we outlined exactly why the show wouldn’t see a second season. The studio can afford to “waste” money on a show with low viewership if it garners good reviews. However, ‘The Acolyte’ only squandered money—and a significant amount, considering it’s one of the most expensive Star Wars shows ever produced.
It’s not immediately obvious, but ‘The Acolyte’ had a $180 million budget for 8 episodes, each roughly 45 minutes long. That’s a hefty sum. While the show features some impressive action sequences and VFX work, is it really worth $180 million?
Forbes reported that ‘The Acolyte’ spent $49 million on pre-production, leaving $130 million for principal photography, reshoots, and post-production. While $180 million for eight episodes is substantial, it’s not the highest for a Star Wars series; ‘Andor’ holds that title with a $250 million budget for twelve episodes. Both series benefited from UK tax breaks, enabling larger budgets.
Compared to Disney+ Star Wars series produced in California like ‘The Mandalorian,’ ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ and ‘Ahsoka,’ ‘The Acolyte’ and ‘Andor’ had significantly higher budgets. The upcoming series ‘Skeleton Crew,’ set to follow ‘The Acolyte,’ reportedly has a $136 million budget, also benefiting from California tax credits.
The prequel films ‘The Phantom Menace,’ ‘Attack of the Clones,’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’ each had budgets around $115 million, yet these figures still fall short of ‘The Acolyte’s’ budget for its eight 45-minute episodes.
Star Wars productions have been ballooning recently, as has much of Hollywood, but one recent masterpiece managed to deliver stunning visuals on a smaller budget while bringing in impressive box office returns.
We’re talking about Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ franchise. The first installment had a reported budget of $165 million and featured visually stunning scenes with exotic locations and elaborate costumes. The movie earned $407 million—yet it was cheaper than ‘The Acolyte.’
‘Dune: Part Two’ had a slightly higher budget of $190 million, outspending ‘The Acolyte’ by $10 million. However, in the movie’s defense, it also earned significantly more than the first installment, raking in $711.8 million worldwide. Once again, the film turned out to be a masterpiece, and it’s clear where the money went. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Star Wars show.
Recently, Disney as a whole has been facing financial difficulties, losing money on its flagship franchises (Marvel and Star Wars) and its streaming service Disney+, which has accumulated billions in losses since its launch.
This is why, a few months ago, Iger announced that the company would be moving forward with reduced creative output, and the state of upcoming Star Wars projects reflects this shift.
What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below!
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