The internet is abuzz with reports aboutThe Acolyte’s viewership, but how did theStar WarsTV show actually perform?The Acolytewas canceledin August last year; Disney remained silent about the cancelation until Alan Bergman - co-chair of Disney Entertainment, responsible for overseeing the company’s content creation and platforms - addressed it in an end-of-year review. “We were happy with our performance,” he explained, “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.”
More recently,viewership data onThe Acolytehas prompted a fresh debate. Streamers are notoriously wary of releasing actual viewership data, meaning third-party companies like Luminate are generally seen as the best source, and Luminate’s own review of 2024 suggested thatThe Acolytewas indeed the second-biggest show on Disney+ last year. #RenewTheAcolyte is once again trending on social media. But what is the truth behind these viewership stats?
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The Acolyte Was The Second Most-Viewed Disney Plus Show In 2024
According to Luminate,six of the top 10 Disney+ TV shows for 2024 wereStar Wars. Data from Luminate suggests thatStar Warsis absolutely vital to the streamer’s performance, with both new releases and previous seasons hitting the top ten. This has gone pretty much viral, and fans ofThe Acolyteare stressing their show’s own significance; it was behind onlyPercy Jackson and the Olympians. On the face of it, this does indeed look like a mark of success - but there’s a problem.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
3,070
2,673
2,284
1,537
1,437
923
914
841
811
693
2024 Was A Disappointing Year For Disney Plus
The issue, quite simply, is that2024 was a bad year for Disney+- a streaming service that is overly dependent on franchises. The top 10 alone proves that, because it contains two types of content that really shouldn’t be there. Streaming services tend to be dependent on new releases of content, so there shouldn’t be so many older pieces of content. Meanwhile, animations aren’t supposed to be a big draw either. Jimmy Doyle, Director and Film & TV analyst at Luminate, explained this to us in a2024 review ofStar Wars:
“When you look at the animated titles, they’re gonna be a lot lower in terms of viewership than live action.That’s pretty typical. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but that’s just they’re not as valuable when we talk about Disney / Lucasfilm. They’re valuable in keeping fans engaged, things like that, but the live action is what’s most important to them when we look at that gross level viewership.”
X-Men ‘97andStar Wars: The Bad Batchwere both tremendous shows. Personally, I considered them highlights of the year (along withArcaneon Netflix). But their presence in the top 10 indicates something about the health of Disney+ as a streaming service, and it’s not good.The Acolytecame second in a year in which Disney+ as a whole underperformed.
Some are beginning to speculate that the age of franchises may well be drawing to a close.
It’s important to stress that Luminate believe pretty much every franchise struggled last year, not justStar Wars. Their own report points to the MCU, whereAgatha All AlongandEchoboth underperformed when compared to other MCU TV shows (despite appearing in the top 10); meanwhile, Amazon’sRings of Powerseason 2 saw a 60% decrease in total minutes watched from the show’s first season. Some are beginning to speculate that the age of franchises may well be drawing to a close.
How The Acolyte’s Viewership Compares To Other Star Wars Shows
If you really want to understandThe Acolyte’s performance, then you have to compare it to otherStar WarsTV shows. There, Luminate’s analysis suggestsThe Acolytehad problems when compared to other recent releases. Take the example ofObi-Wan Kenobi; this launched with 7.52 million views in the first two days, but with a disappointing dropoff to just 3.91 million for the finale. Incredibly, this was still over 1 million higher thanThe Acolyte’s opening. And here’s the catch; it gets worse, becauseThe Acolytesaw a significant drop in viewership throughout its run, as Luminate’s graph reveals.
It’s not unusual to see some kind of drop, but the sheer scale here is horrific, and suggests real problems with retention. The action-packed episode 5 was a step in the right direction, and initial viewership of episode 6 showed signs of improvement, but note the depth of that particular gradient. “The Acolyte… had lower viewership than most of the other Star Wars shows when it premiered, and then it didn’t gain viewership,“Doyle told us.“It actually lost a little bit of viewership during its run.”
The Acolyte’s Performance Has To Be Judged Against Cost
The Acolyte’s viewership has to be judged against its cost, which was frankly prohibitive. According to tax documents filed by the Walt Disney Company’s UK branch,Lucasfilm spent an eye-watering $231 million on the show, meaning the budget ballooned to an eye-watering $28.75 million per episode. This is significantly over-budget, given previous claims it had been allocated $180 million for filming, and it raises real concerns about why the studio failed to keep costs in check.
The Acolyte’s Eye-Watering $230 Million Budget Revealed, Further Explaining Disney’s Cancelation
The Acolyte’s true budget is revealed, but just why did costs go out of control - and what lessons do Lucasfilm need to learn from this?
Given that kind of cost,The Acolytereally needed to be one of Disney’s top performers. Instead, although it performed relatively well for 2024, it was well below what would have been expected - and it wouldn’t have justified the cost profile.The Acolytemay have been the second-most-viewed TV show on Disney+ in 2024, but that particular achievement loses its shine when placed in full context. It’s a shame; the show was far from perfect, but it didn’t deserve this, and it’s disappointing to see the story go unfinished after its cliffhanger ending.
