The first trailer for The Acolyte has, for whatever reason, divided Star Wars fans. The show, which is set during The High Republic era, boasts a female showrunner and a predominantly female cast, but it's been hard to find a specific reason for the backlash beyond the usual social media chatter.
Whatever the case may be, this sneak peek has certainly managed to generate a big response as StarWars.com recently shared the following announcement (via SFFGazette.com).
"Released yesterday, the trailer for The Acolyte garnered 51.3 million views in its first 24 hours. This is a new digital-only record for any Lucasfilm Disney+ series, surpassing every trailer for The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka. We’re grateful for your support, and can’t wait for you to experience the series."
Back to the backlash mentioned above and, as we write this, the trailer has received over 8 million views on YouTube. It's since racked up 162,757 likes and a whopping 337,622 dislikes, meaning 67% of viewers didn't like what they saw.
"Review bombing" is nothing new, of course, and The Acolyte may well be a victim of that.
Either way, it feels way too soon to write this one off. The trailer isn't overly different from the one which premiered during last April's Star Wars Celebration and it's clear Lucasfilm is keeping a lot secret while promoting this apparent murder mystery.
You can relive the first trailer for The Acolyte in the X post below.
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 stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The Acolyte comes from creator and showrunner Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), who also serves as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King, and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers, and Rayne Roberts and Damian Anderson are producing.
The next Star Wars TV series will premiere on Disney+ on June 4.