Posted in: Disney+, Movies, Opinion, Star Wars, TV, TV | Tagged: opinion, star wars, The Acolyte

The Acolyte: 2024 Disney+ Viewing Numbers Raise Cancellation Questions

Luminate's 2024 viewing figures for Disney+ raise questions about why Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae-starring The Acolyte was canceled.

Okay, it's time for a brief history lesson on what led to Showrunner Leslye Headland's Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae-starring The Acolyte being canceled. The series got off to a strong two-episode debut, with 11.1 million global views over the course of its first five days – going on to debut on Nielsen's Top 10 originals chart with its premiere week at No. 7 (488 million minutes viewed), rising to No. 7 the following week. As the season went on, the streaming series would drop out of Nielsen's Top 10 with the third episode – only returning to the chart with the finale. In August of 2024, the word came down that the series would not be returning.

It should also be noted that The Acolyte, its cast, and its creative team also faced the uphill battle of trying to win over a certain percentage of fans who attacked the series and those associated with it on social media for its efforts at diversity and representation, review-bombing episodes during the show's run. Stenberg and others called out the harassment that they received leading into and during the season – with Jodie Turner-Smith (Mother Aniseya) calling out Disney for not doing more to protect Stenberg. In December 2024, Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairs of Disney Entertainment, offered the company's position.

Speaking with Vulture for a profile interview about him and Walden and Disney's changing approach to streaming and theatrical, Bergman credited the series with doing well but not well enough for Disney to be able to afford a second season. "So, as it relates to 'Acolyte,' we were happy with our performance, but it wasn't where we needed it to be given the cost structure of that title, quite frankly, to go and make a season two. So that's the reason why we didn't do that," Bergman explained. That brings us to the here and now, with entertainment industry data, analytics, and insights company Luminate sharing year-end viewing figures that seem to raise some legitimate questions.

In its overall year-end television/streaming report (which you can check out here), Luminate noted that several streaming franchises—including Marvel and Star Wars—had lower viewing figures than previous offerings in their respective franchises. With that said, Luminate's Disney+ Top 10 TV Shows (ranging from Dec. 29, 2023-Dec.31, 2024) chart offers a very interesting picture. Based on a scale using "minutes watched (millions)," Percy Jackson and the Olympians came out on top with 3070 minutes, while The Acolyte scored second place with 2673 minutes – impressive considering that the series debuted approximately six months after "Percy Jackson" did. A mid-year start that results in the series still being the second-most watched Disney+ show in 2024 begs the question. Where exactly did Disney need the results to be for a Season 2 green light to happen? Based on Luminate's findings, it looks like first place gets renewed – and second place gets canceled.

The Acolyte Ending "Not a Huge Shock": Stenberg on Experiencing Hate

Back in August, we got a chance to hear from the show's major player – Stenberg, who made it clear that they weren't surprised by the news because of the hate that they knew they personally – and the show overall – would face for daring to offer something different, with a cast the represents the diversity of the "Star Wars" fandom. "It's not a huge shock for me. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality, but for those who aren't aware, there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept, no one had even seen it. That's when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language toward us," Stenberg shared during an Instagram Stories video addressing the show's cancellation. "This really affected me when I first got the job because it's just not something even though I anticipated it happening; it's not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it's happening to you." Here's a look at what Stemberg had to share:

"Hello, I thought I would get on here and just speak candidly. I hate doing this. I hate doing this, but I'm gonna do it. I honestly, I don't use social media very much anymore, and I'm so happy about that, but there are many folks out there that I want to acknowledge, and I want to show appreciation and love and support for, so that's why I'm hopping on here to talk about this, which is that our show, our 'Star Wars' show, has been canceled. And I'm gonna say, I'm really transparent, and say that it's not a huge shock for me. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality, but for those who aren't aware, there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept, no one had even seen it. That's when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language toward us. This really affected me when I first got the job, because it's just not something even though I anticipated it happening, it's not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it's happening to you," Stenberg shared.

The Acolyte star continued, "On that topic, I just have to say it has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe. Even though, of course, I'm very sad about the show being canceled, and I'm sad about us not being able to give people who are invested into it more because…. I still just feel a lot of levity and joy around the fact that it that I got to experience it, and that people loved it, and that people were so responsive. I poured through a lot of different iterations of fan art and ship art and fan theories and things that were just so beautiful and filled my heart with joy. I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way and supported us vocally, despite and in the face of all of the vitriol that we received and the kind of the targeted attack, I would say we received by the alt-right, just that you are deeply loved and appreciated. It made this job all the worthwhile for me, and it made all of the challenging elements of it completely worthwhile for me. That plus my love of sci-fi and fantasy and being able to be a part of the legacy of something that I so deeply value, and something that means so much to me and I've looked up to for so long."

"I also just want to say thank you to Lucasfilm for just being a f***ing awesome team. They were so wonderful to work with. Everybody that I worked with in Lucasfilm, particularly Rayne Roberts, my producer. Who just had such vision and hope and such a mission for what we were going to continue bringing into the 'Star Wars' universe. And it was a really beautiful, energizing, life-changing experience to be a part of. And I have to thank Leslye Headland, who just, I just f***ing love that b***h. Excuse my French. She's just one of the best people in the world. I think she's so incredibly talented and unique and kind, and I'll love her forever, and I will love this experience with her forever. But at the end of the day, I also just want to thank everybody who watched it. Thank you for being so loving and supportive and excited and nerdy and awesome, and I'll continue to process this for a long time," Stenberg continued.

The actor ended the message urging others to vote and be their own agents of change moving forward. "Maybe the last thing I want to say on the subject is that we all exist in the context of all in which we live (laughs). But I'm serious. it's not lost on me how the way that these events have unfolded is also due to the hyper divisiveness of the time that we live in. That is driven, I would say at this point, by echo chambers of thought and algorithms that reinforce our biases. And I think that applies to everybody, but I think that in a particular sect of people, it manifests as a lot of fear for what is changing, a lot of hatred for anything that is other. And I would challenge us all and challenge myself to continue questioning what it is that I digest and think critically about what shapes it. And let's vote. Y'all, let's vote. Let's vote. I think that's all I have to say."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!