The Acolyte Trailer Breaks Record for Lucasfilms’ Disney+ Star Wars Originals

The first trailer for The Acolyte may have generated plenty of discourse in comments sections across social media, but for Lucasfilm the launch became the most watched trailer for any Star Wars series debut on Disney+.

The 90-second trailer for Leslye Headland’s foray into Star Wars lore was released on Tuesday and pulled in a record 51.3 million views in its first 24 hours on digital platforms. Lucasfilm celebrated the achievement with a post on Instagram, and it will be something they are holding onto in light of the staggering amount of dislikes, “woke” comments, and other digs at the production, director and modern Star Wars offerings in general.

The Acolyte is set a century before the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and will center on the rising darkness of the Sith in a world where the Jedi are still strong and the events of the Skywalker Saga are still a long way off. The series features new Sith villain Mae, portrayed by Amandla Stenberg. The story will see a respected Jedi Master, played by Lee Jung-jae, attempting to unravel a series of Jedi murders, which is a path that leads him into a conflict with his former Padawan and unveils the powers of the dark side.

The Acolyte is a First Look at the High Republic Era

While the High Republic era of Star Wars has been previously covered in other forms, the new Disney+ series will tap into a previously uncharted territory for the franchise’s big screen and Disney+ offerings. While the most familiar characters of the Star Wars franchise will not figure in the series, creator Headland told Collider that there would also only be one character that would be known to readers of the High Republic novels; Vernestra Woh. However, there is a very good reason why Headland did not want to fire all of her shots from the outset. She said:

“I’m gonna be straight with you. They do not. Part of that is because I wanted to save some people for Season 2. I really focused on Vern. Vern was a character that really jumped out at me immediately as someone that I wanted to see as an arc for where we were with the Jedi when we come into this story . A character that started out as a prodigy, someone powerfully connected to the Force, almost in love with the Force, but also sassy enough to make her lightsaber into a whip. Someone [with] that experimentation, that energy, and then to see who she is in our show, and see what happens over the course of becoming a more and more powerful Jedi, and going from mission after mission, to council meetings, and protocol, and “how do we keep this institution going, how do we check it, how do we negotiate the level of power that we have.” She’s massively respected, and considered to be one of the most powerful Jedi at this particular time period.”

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Star Wars: The Acolyte Episodes Will Be Shorter Than Many Fans Would Like

The Acolyte’s showrunner Leslye Headland has revealed there will be some very short episodes in the new series.

The Acolyte will debut the first two of its eight episodes on Disney+ on June 4, with Headland previously noting that the average episode runtime is around 30 minutes, putting it in line with a number of other Star Wars shows. As the first live-action Star Wars project to really sit outside the Skywalker Saga, its success or failure will be a strong indication of the challenges that Lucasfilm faces in the coming years with their expansion of the Star Wars Universe.