After months of anticipation, Lucasfilm and Disney+ have finally shared the long-awaited trailer for the next live-action Star Wars series, The Acolyte, which you can watch below.
Yesterday Lucasfilm debut a teaser poster for the Disney+ series and confirmed the release date of June 4th, 2024. Today Lucasfilm debuted the official poster the series which you can see below this paragraph and revealed that not one, but two episodes of the series will release on the 4th of June. According to the X user, Cryptic4KQual, the first two episodes of The Acolytes have a combined run time of roughly one hour and twenty minutes. Readers of Bespin Bulletin would’ve seen me cover Cryptic in the past and even more so in the last few weeks as the individual has become a solid source of runtimes and trailer release dates.
Though unconfirmed, European official Disney+ accounts have shared that The Acolyte will release June 5th in those territories, which implies that the series is likely releasing later in the day of June 4th for those in North America. In September last year, I exclusively reported that The Acolyte would release in the Summer of 2024 and would be the first live-action Star Wars series of the year despite the Jon Watts Skeleton Crew series originally being slated to debut in the Holiday season of 2023, that series I exclusively reported at the same time had been delayed to November this year. Collider shared exclusively that The Acolyte would release on June 5th a few weeks ago, though as mentioned, the series will debut a few hours before on June 4th for residents of North America.
The High Republic era series wrapped production in May last year following a seven month shoot. The Acolyte primarily filmed in the United Kingdom, specifically at Shinfield Studios, but did shoot across various locations in the U.K including Wales and even ventured to Portugal. Both the Brecon Beacons, Wales sets and those from Portugal can be seen in the trailer. The majority of the forested areas were shot in the Brecon Beacons National Park, and the shots of a small island surrounded by the sea are from Madeira Island, Portugal.
Thanks to a Lucasfilm press release that contained stills from the newly released trailer, we have learned the names of a few characters. Amandla Stenberg, the series lead is named Mae, Carrie-Anne Moss’ Jedi master is named Indara, Charlie Barnett’s Jedi character goes by the name Yord Fandar and Dafne Keen’s Jedi padawan character is named Jecki Lon (readers of this site would’ve known the Jecki name for a while).
In addition to the poster and release date reveal yesterday, Lucasfilm also shared an updated synopsis for the upcoming Disney+ series which reads; In The Acolyte, 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 series was created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and directed the first two episodes of The Acolyte, both of which we’ll see on June 4th. Kogonada (After Yang) directed episodes three and seven, Alex Garcia Lopez (Daredevil) directed episodes four and five, and finally, Hanelle Culpepper (Westworld) will direct the season finale, episode eight.
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).
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