Star Wars appears to be finally finding its feet again on Disney+ with Skeleton Crew, one of the highest rated shows in the franchise since the first season of The Mandalorian. However, it was a very different story when The Acolyte was released back in June, as audiences slammed the series for the same old reasons as many other Star Wars projects.

The Acolyte ran its course, but despite developing a dedicated fan base and teasing plenty to come, it was canceled before anyone could really get their hopes up about a possible Season 2. Many fans slammed Disney and Lucasfilm for dropping the series, calling them out for canceling the show because of racial backlash and similar complaints that formed the bulk of the hate for the show.

It seems that the simple truth of the matter is that the show cost too much to make compared to the revenue it generated. Speaking to Vulture, co-chair of Disney Alan Bergman explained that The Acolyte's fate was decided through a simple matter of numbers...and hinted that the fate of Skeleton Crew will be decided on the same merits even with its high review scores. He said:

"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. Skeleton Crew is in process now, so we'll see. We've seen some growth on that. We'll see how that goes. As you said, the reviews have been excellent on Skeleton Crew, so we'll have to see how that all plays out as it moves forward."

Cancelations Often Come Down to Costs Close

Whether a series receives good reviews or bad, the final decision about the future of any series renewal is usually a matter of cost. With streaming shows coming with increasingly large budgets, and no box office takings to recoup the costs, how platforms make their money is not as clear-cut as theatrical movie releases. Combinations of increased subscriber numbers, merchandising deals, syndication and more are used to gauge how profitable a show is.

In the last few years, the biggest losers on streaming have been fantasy and sci-fi offerings, and not just on Disney+. Essentially, if a series has a lot of special effects to be paid for, and extensive post-production work, then chances are it will have to be one of the biggest programs to have hit a particular platform to prove worthy of a second season renewal.

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Streamers have often been lambasted by fans of shows canceled after one season, with small dedicated fan bases becoming very vocal when highly rated series are dropped while panned shows continue on for several seasons. Recently, Velma drew a lot of criticism when its first season became one of the most hated shows on Max, but it received a second season, and a Halloween special before biting the dust. At the same time, Warner Bros. Discovery was canceling completed movies and shelving other TV shows all in the name of cost saving. Well, no one said any of it had to make sense, did they?

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2 /5 The Acolyte Sci-FiFantasy

Star Wars series that take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.

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*Availability in US Release Date June 4, 2024 Cast Amandla Stenberg , Lee Jung-jae , Joonas Suotamo , Charlie Barnett , Dafne Keen , Leah Brady , Manny Jacinto , Rebecca Henderson , Carrie-Anne Moss , Jodie Turner-Smith , Dean-Charles Chapman , Lauren Brady , Anthony J. Abraham , Thara Shöön , Danielle Xin Yao Waterman , Sienna Khiroya , Jeramiah Evans , Dan Milne , Thomas Coombes , Archie Singh Swali , Nick Court , Ed Kear , Jumayn Hunter , Scroobius Pip , Abigail Thorn , Margarita Levieva , Amy Tsang , Saskia Allen , Deborah Rosan , Tabitha Alege , Paul Bullion , Indra Ové , Derek Arnold , Lewis Young Seasons 1 Expand