Star Wars: The Acolyte Sets Sight On February Filming
Reports say Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte will start production in February 2022….
While it’s been The Bad Batch, Andor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi capturing the recent “Star Wars” headlines, but a fabulous interview in AV Club put Leslye Headland and her upcoming show The Acolyte right in the limelight.
However, straight off of that interview, a piece in which Headland explained she has non-Star Wars fans in her writers’ room comes news — this time from Discussing Film — that The Acolyte will begin filming in February of next year.
News on The Acolyte
Jacob Fisher wrote, “The series will likely use ‘The Volume’ that has been set up in Pinewood Studios in London following the successful use of the technology in Los Angeles for the first 2 seasons of The Mandalorian, as well as The Book of Boba Fett.
“Casting has already begun for The Acolyte, with Lucasfilm looking to cast a young woman of color in the lead role,” added Fisher.
“Both this show and Ahsoka will be the first live-action projects within the Star Wars universe to feature women of color in the main roles.
“The Acolyte has been described as a female-driven, action mystery thriller, with martial art elements that will take us into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging Dark Side powers in the final days of the High Republic Era.”
The What Now?
For those non-bookies out there, The High Republic is a current Star Wars publishing initiative, which takes place 200 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (a.k.a. Episode I).
Much speculation has been spilled on what exactly will take place on the timeline of The Acolyte. Still, one wonders — thanks to the “emerging Dark Side powers — if any of the storylines of the unfulfilled George Lucas project, Star Wars Underworld, might make their way into the series.
After all, given the timeline, couldn’t Sheev Palpatine show up (as ol’ Sheev was born in 84 BBY)?
The Acolyte: Could Sheev Show Up?
Back in 2016, Cory Barlog, the director of Sony’s blockbuster game series, explained, “[W]hen I was working at Lucas, I was allowed to go up to the ranch and read the scripts for the [canceled live-action Star Wars] TV show.
“It was the most mind-blowing thing I’d ever experienced,” he added. “I cared about the Emperor.
“They made the Emperor a sympathetic figure…” said Barlog.
Interesting stuff, to be sure, especially since, in those unused scripts, it was a woman who wronged Palpatine and sent him on his path of darkness.
A New Path
However, in her interview, Headland emphasized her love of role-playing games and world-building. And it might strain credulity to think that Headland would re-use an old trope like a jilted lover to advance her creative vision.
“[T]hat’s my favorite version of Star Wars, the Star Wars where you get to make up your own Star Wars,” explained Headland. “To me, that’s what Star Wars is, is being able to walk into a universe and start playing. If you can’t do that with the movie, television show, novel comic book, video game, then I’m not sure you’ve done what you need to do as a creator of Star Wars material.”
But Headland also said, “We’re all just following in George’s footsteps.”
Either way, it sounds like The Acolyte is well on its way and in excellent hands.
Correction: The above version of the story corrects the publication of Jacob Fisher’s story as Discussing Film.
Feature Image: Lucasfilm