Details and Footage Revealed for Lucasfilm's STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE Series; Described as "FROZEN Meets KILL BILL"
During the big Star Wars Celebration event today, Lucasfilm showed off a first look at the upcoming series Star Wars: The Acolyte. This is a project that I’ve been very curious about, and we’ve learned some new details about it.
The story is set in the High Republic era, and the story is described as "a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated." The series takes place 100 years before the franchise’s prequel trilogy. The High Republic era is known as the Golden Age of the Jedi, a time when the ancient order was at its peak.
The series cast includes Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), and Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim).
Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) created the series and while talking about the project she described it as “Frozen meets Kill Bill.” She also revealed the that story will be told from the perspective of the villains and is set between the High Republic and the beginning of the prequel trilogy, “because this is when the bad guys are outnumbered.”
The series was described as a “spiritual war,” and it includes conflict between siblings, and parents, as well as a conflict between a master and an apprentice. It was reiterated the project is very much inspired by samurai films. It has been said to focus on the emergence of the Sith, a group of Dark Jedi set on conquering the galaxy. The '“acolyte” term has been used in the Star Wars universe to describe soldiers for the powerful Sith Lords.
In the footage that was shared, Stenberg’s character attempts to kill a Jedi Master, who is played by Carrie-Anne Moss. It was also revealed that Joonas Suotamo, who has played Chewbacca in the sequel trilogy, will play a new Wookie character, Kel Naka.
Gizmodo shared a more details description of the footage, which “began with a group of younglings, all types of humans and aliens, being trained by a Jedi Master in bright white robes played by Lee Jung-jae. ‘Close your eyes. Your eyes can deceive you. We must not trust them,’ he says as we see a very run-down, busy village where a hooded figure walks down the street. ‘The Force is powerful. It’s a power we must respect,’ the Jedi master’s speech continues. Inside a bar, a Jedi is sitting, played by Carrie-Anne Moss. For some reason, the Jedi and this hooded figure, played by Stenberg, begin to fight. Stenberg’s character looks like a ninja, complete with a black mask covering the bottom of their face.
“The rest of the footage plays mostly in montage: We see footage inside what looks like a Jedi temple. Several younger Jedi (Keen and Barnett) sneak through tight spaces. Someone is scaling up the side of a temple. There’s a scene in the snow. A Neimoidian appears. And finally, Stenberg’s character says over the montage, ‘This isn’t about good or bad. This is about power. And who is allowed to use it.’ The final shot is of around eight Jedi standing in the woods, with Jung-jae’s character in the middle. He lights up his lightsaber, and then all the other Jedi join him, igniting their own blades of all different colors. The vibes we got were sort of a samurai movie mixed with a heist movie, but with a lot of Jedi.”
That sounds awesome! I can’t wait to see the footage for myself! The series is still shooting. Excited about this one?