Six months after principal photography concluded on The Acolyte, I’ve been informed that the series is the process of reshoots.
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According to sources, The Acolyte is or has been undergoing reshoots in the United Kingdom for a number of weeks. I was made aware of the reshoots a couple of weeks ago, that took place at the end of November and start of December, when the production ventured to Rickmansworth, a town located in Hertfordshire, England. The production set up in a local forest and shot for a few nights before moving on. I don’t know if the reshoots were planned or not, but I suspect that they are.
The shoot that took place in the Rickmansworth forest focused on two individuals taking part in a lightsaber duel, one Jedi and one Sith. The Sith appeared to be Amandla Stenberg’s character, though the appearance of the character is different to the shots of her that featured during The Acolyte trailer shown at Star Wars Celebration. During the Rickmansworth shoot, Stenberg’s hair was notably longer and was tied in a unique style. Stenberg’s outfit featured a short sleeve dark grey top and dark grey bottoms with black boots and a piece of black clothing placed over the top of the grey shirt. The black item of clothing that sat over the grey shirt flowed down the actresses back like a cape and appeared have a similar piece placed in front of the outfit that ran between the actresses legs. Completing the outfit was a crimson red lightsaber which Stenberg swung towards her co-star.
As for who the Jedi is, I don’t know. Onlookers thought the cast member was female initially due to the individual having shoulder length hair. However, Lee Jung-Jae’s Jedi character sports hair with a similar length and is believed to be the master of Stenberg’s former padawan. The Jedi had dark hair that was placed atop their shoulders and sported beige coloured Jedi robes with a brown belt. The Jedi swung around a blue lightsaber, which was the colour of lightsaber Jung Jae’s character had in The Acolyte trailer shown at Star Wars Celebration. Upon further inspection I think the Jedi taking part in the shoot is Jung-Jae’s character, but I cannot be certain.
The Acolyte began filming at the tail end of October last year, though Lucasfilm did not confirm the production start until early November. The series wrapped filming in May of this year as reported by both myself and MakingStarWars in June – I shared that my sources informed me that The Acolyte had wrapped on time in May. Filming on the series primarily took place at Shinfield Studios located in Berkshire, England. In addition, the production ventured out to various locations around the U.K. including the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, as well outside of the United Kingdom, shooting scenes in Portugal in the Spring.
The Acolyte, which is set during the High Republic era, will follow a former padawan and her Jedi master as they investigate a series of crimes, but encounter forces more sinister than what they’ve imagined. The series stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies, Bodies, Bodies) as the lead, as well as Lee Jung Jae (Squid Game), Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang), Charlie Bennett (Russian Doll), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Dean Charles Chapman (1917), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) and Margarita Levieva (Daredevil: Born Again).
The Acolyte has been confirmed various times to release exclusively on Disney+ sometime in 2024, though it is not known as to when. I previously heard and reported that I was informed that the series was looking to release during the second quarter of 2024, but later shared that the series had likely suffered a slight delay due to Disney shuffling their schedule due to the impact of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. I speculated that the series could release in August of 2024 due to Lucasfilm’s affinity for releasing Star Wars series that month – Andor season one and two were both planned for August 2022 and August 2024, with Ahsoka releasing in August this year. I exclusively reported that Skeleton Crew had suffered a delay from late 2023 to around November 2024 and Andor season two being delayed to early 2025 in addition to The Acolyte delay information.
At Star Wars Celebration which took place in April, a trailer for The Acolyte debuted and was shown exclusively to those in attendance, with the trailer once again being shown in May at Disney’s Upfront showcase. The trailer has yet to be officially released, but you can read a description of it below.
Star Wars: The Acolyte trailer description
The trailer opens with Lee Jung Jae’s Jedi master teaching a group of younglings inside of a Jedi temple. We cut to a mysterious purple-hooded figure from behind making their way through a bustling town before walking into a bar of some sort as we see them targeting a character played by Carrie Anne Moss, who appears to be a Jedi. The mysterious figure is revealed to the series lead, Amandla Stenberg, who’s sporting red dreadlocks, a black cloth mask, a metal plate on her chest, and what appears to be chain mail beneath as she swings a small dagger in an attempt to kill Moss, but Carrie Anne dodges every swing with ease.
The trailer continues and shows us Charlie Barnett’s character using the force, complete in the recognisable white and gold robes of the High Republic era Jedi. We see two Neimoidians aboard a star ship in a quick shot inter-spliced with Stenberg’s character creeping around corners and Jung Jae continuing to teach the younglings. Stenberg whips out her dagger and swings it at an unknown character, as Charlie Barnett ignites a yellow lightsaber whilst exploring caverns with what appears to be Dafne Keen’s character in alien make-up.
We see an Rebecca Henderson’s Jedi character with white and gold robes opening a door in a Jedi temple with the force and Manny Jacinto’s character looking disheveled peaking around a corner. Jodie Tuner Smith’s character is seen looking regal as what appears to be her followers open their hands in front of her as she walks through them. We see Stenberg swing at Moss once again with her trusted dagger which is blocked by Moss using the force. We see Lee Jung Jae, Charlie Barnett and an unknown female character, all Jedi, walking up a snowy mountain in the midst of a blizzard. The final shot of the trailer see’s Lee Jung Jae and seven other Jedi ignite their lightsabers in a forest location.
The Acolyte will release exclusively on Disney+ sometime in 2024.
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