This weekend will see all nine Skywalker saga films being re-released in theatres this weekend in celebration of Star Wars day, May 4th, and in celebration of the twenty fifth anniversary of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace which enters theatres in the United States on Friday and is the only one of the nine films to boast exclusive footage from Disney and Lucasfilm’s next entry in the Star Wars franchise, The Acolyte.
The Acolyte is a live-action Disney+ series and takes place during the events of the High Republic era, which is set one hundred years before the time of The Phantom Menace and was created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and is due to release on the streaming service on June 4th.
As mentioned, The Phantom Menace re-release boasts exclusive footage from the upcoming series and that footage has now made its way online after The Phantom Menace re-release opened in France last night. You can read a description of the footage below and see a link to an X post from X user GoatherdYale who shared the footage even further down. Remember there’s a good chance the link becomes invalid if or when Disney take down the footage from the social media network.
The footage follows Amandala Stenberg’s Mae, the series lead, as she enters a bustling cantina and walks towards a hooded figure. As Stenberg approaches the individual she utters the name, “Master Indara.” The hooded figure turns their head in the direction of Mae and it is revealed to be Jedi Master Indara played by Carrie-Anne Moss. As Indara turns to look at Mae, Mae pulls down her hood and attacks individuals sat with Indara. Other Cantina frequenters run to attack Mae. However Mae makes short work of the attackers, slamming heads into tables, taking down individuals with kicks, punches and elbows and throwing people over tables before she’s forced to hide behind a table as a blaster is fired in her direction. Jedi Master Indara remains seated and watches on as Mae makes short work of the Cantina frequenters.
As Mae kicks and incredibly large table at the individual firing blaster bolts in her direction and crushes them, Indara finally steps in and grabs Mae by the hand. Mae quickly turns around hurling kicks and punches in Indara’s direction, but the Jedi Master dodges every move and once again grabs Mae by the hand after another failed swing. Mae lashes out again but once again her attacks don’t connect as Indara calmly moves out of Mae’s way.
Mae pulls out a small blade as Indara pulls down her hood. Mae turns around and begins swinging the blade in the direction of Indara with the first swing going straight for the Jedi Master’s neck. Indara slaps away each of Mae’s swings before she uses the Force to stop the blade that’s being aimed at her face. Indara spins Mae around and holds onto her arm as she asks her attacker, “Who trained you?”
As Mae breaks free of Indara’s grasp, she uses a series of flips to reach a higher up walkway and grabs a civilian as a hostage and points her blade towards the hostage’s neck. Indara uses a series of large Force infused steps to make it to the walkway as civilians scarper away and Mae contacts the Jedi Order to inform them that she’s under attack from an unidentified Force user. As Indara approaches Mae, Mae tosses the hostage off the walkway which forces Indara to use the Force to break their fall as Mae uses the opportunity to hide.
As the civilians escape the Cantina, Indara looks for Mae who jumps out from hiding and once again barrages Indara with a series of kicks and swings of her blade. Indara dodges almost every attack, but one of Mae’s kicks connects and knocks Indara into a wall as Mae’s blade narrowly misses Indara’s face and sticks into the wall. Indara uses the Force to distance herself from Mae who falls to the ground. Mae quickly gets up and gets up close to Indara again as she continues her attack on the Jedi master, but Indara blocks every blow and uses the Force once again to push Mae back. As Mae uses her feet to stop herself from being pushed back even further before coming to a halt, she catches her breath before running towards Indara once again and jumps into the air doing a spin-kick as the Jedi Master grabs her lightsaber and ignites it to reveal a green blade as the footage comes to a close.
The exclusive footage runs for around two and a half minutes before a previously released trailer attached to the footage plays.
Set during the High Republic era, The Acolyte, will follow an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.
The Acolyte 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 premieres on Disney+ on June 4th with TWO episodes.
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