How The Phantom Menace inspired new Star Wars show The Acolyte

The Mandalorian is officially a hit on Disney+, paving the way for a whole new crop of Star Wars series whether you want them or not. There’s The Book of Boba Fett, which will be out this year. There’s a new series starring Ewan McGregor as a middle-aged Obi-Wan Kenobi. And there’s The Acolyte, which is set during the tail end of the High Republic period around 200 years before the original Star Wars, when the Jedi were at the height of their power and influence…at least at the start of the show.

The Acolyte is being managed by Leslye Headland, who co-created the sci-fi show Russian Doll for Netflix. Headland is a huge Star Wars fan who has seen not only the movies but also the animated TV shows from Dave Filoni, as well as played a lot of the Star Wars video games that have come out over the years. But the movie that had the biggest effect on her may have been 1999’s The Phantom Menace, which hit her at a key point in her life and stuck there.

Knowing that, it probably won’t be surprising that The Phantom Menace has been an influence on The Acolyte. “I actually was very intrigued by why George Lucas had started us at that particular point,” she told TheWrap. “I kind of wondered, but what happened to lead up to this? That’s kind of where my Star Wars fan brain went was like, ‘How did we get here?’ And why are the Jedi like this? When they are in power, why are they acting this way and how is it that they’re not having the reaction that you would think they would to Anakin’s presence and what Qui-Gon Jinn is saying about how passionately he feels about training him and bringing him into the fold.”

"It’s like, even the discovery of Darth Maul is kind of met with this like, ‘Hm, interesting’ kind of feeling. So I just think for me, my brain has always buzzed around that area and wondered what’s going on here – or what has been going on here."

We’ll find out when The Acolyte premieres on Disney+, although we don’t know when that will be. We don’t know much about it, really, except that it has a female lead and 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.”

Wonder Woman director is feeling the pressure of making Rogue Squadron movie

Star Wars TV may be where it’s at right now, but there are more movies coming down the pipeline, starting with Rogue Squadron, a film that director Patty Jenkins hopes will be “the great fighter pilot movie” she’s always wanted to make.

But of course, Rogue Squadron isn’t just any fighter pilot movie — it’s a Star Wars fighter pilot movie, meaning there’s a lot of pressure to do well. But having already directed two Wonder Woman movies, that’s nothing Jenkins hasn’t been through before. “It’s a huge amount of pressure, and Wonder Woman was a huge amount of pressure as well, so it’s not a totally new feeling to me, but yeah. Definitely nerve-wracking,” she told the Associated Press.

Expect Rogue Squadron in theaters on December 22, 2023.

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h/t Games Radar, SyFy Wire