The Star Wars machine over at Disney continues to grind – Andor is currently airing its last few episodes, Ashoka and Skeleton Crew are both in active production, and The Mandalorian’s third season is imminent – and to top off that list, The Acolyte has reportedly begun filming in Shinfield Studios over in the UK.
Some movement has been observed on a large outdoor set behind the studios have emerged, with numerous actors being moved between trailers and set, including series lead Amandla Stemberg, according to Bespin Bulletin.
The Acolyte will dig quite deep into the Star Wars timeline’s past, and is set well before the events of The Phantom Menace. It is being touted as a mystery thriller series that will unpack the beginnings of the downfall of The Republic.
Amandla Stemberg will lead the series, as will Squid Games’ Lee-Jung-jae. Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) and Jodie Turner-Smith (Without Remorse) are also involved in the project.
Not much else is known about The Acolyte this early in the game, which is coming from Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, but we do know there’s going to be some martial arts-inspired action, which should hopefully serve as a breath of fresh air for the franchise.
The Acolyte doesn’t have a firm release date as of writing, but given filming has just begun, we probably shouldn’t expect it until late 2023 at the very earliest.
However, as we mentioned at the start of this article – there’s plenty of Star Wars to look forward to between now and then, including the last couple of episodes of the first season of Andor, coming weekly to Disney Plus.
