Zuraikat, Laith

The Failure of The Acolyte: A Case Study

This case study uses a front-end analysis based on Harless' thirteen smart questions approach to examine what caused the failure of the Star Wars television show The Acolyte. When The Acolyte was first announced, it was labeled as the start of a new era of storytelling in the Star Wars universe and was meant to launch new avenues of live action television for Disney and Lucasfilm. However, following negative reviews, fan backlash, and inconsistent viewership, Disney has seemingly chosen not to renew the show for a second season, leading many to label it a failure. This case study employs an innovative interdisciplinary approach which utilizes a methodology that is typically associated with the field of human performance improvement and employed in the realms of business and organizational management to a subject matter most commonly addressed in the arts and media studies in order to shed light on what went wrong with the show. The findings of this approach suggest that it was the show's inability to produce tangible valuable for its parent company which lies at the heart of Disney's decision. Based on this evaluation, the opportunities and challenges of several potential solutions to this failure are explored. Choosing to revive the show as a feature film is determined to be the best solution to rectify The Acolyte's failure. 

Cite: Zuraikat, Laith 2026. The Failure of The Acolyte: A Case Study. Holistic Science Publications, Holistic Archive, ISSN 2984-2263, Finland, 60-78.