The Acolyte showrunner's pitch for the Star Wars show was so great, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy cried
May. 16, 2024Exclusive: The Acolyte showrunners also tease the franchise’s best action
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
The Acolyteis shaping up to be a unique entry in the Star Wars saga, and its initial pitch by showrunner Leslye Headland makes that very clear – as well as being so powerful it had the room in tears.
“Leslye said it wasFrozenmeetsKill Billin Star Wars,” producer Rayne Roberts tellsSFX magazinein the new issue, which features Doctor Who on the cover. “It immediately communicated a kind of emotional entanglement and also high-octane action. It was like, ‘I think I understand what that is,’ and it started a conversation that led to me elevating her pitch, ultimately up to Kathy [Kennedy,Lucasfilmpresident]. Leslye is an amazing storyteller and when she finally pitched Kathy, everyone was crying. It was that kind of meeting.”
“The thing I picked up on and got very excited about was Kill Bill,” adds producer Simon Emanuel. “One of the things we talked about really early on was action, and I really believe that, in these kinds of shows, action has to be a character. It can’t just be, ‘Give me a punch, give me a lightsaber fight…’ So I introduced Leslye to a guy called Chris Clark Cowan, who was our action designer, and part of the team who worked on the Darth Vader sequence inRogue One. Leslye and Chris completely fell in love, and action became such a component of this story. For me, it’s the best action the franchise has seen – and there’s so much of it.”
Not a subscriber to SFX? Thenhead on over here to get the latest issues sent directly to your home/device!
The Acolyte releases on June 5. The above is just a snippet from our interview, available inthe latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Doctor Who on the cover and is available from Wednesday, May 15. See what you should be looking out for on newsstands below…
For even more from SFX, sign up to ournewsletter, which delivers all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.
You can keep up to date with the galaxy far, far away with our guide to all theupcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.
Sign up to the SFX Newsletter
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
I’m a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site’s Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
Ahsoka season 2 has Dave Filoni as the only writer as he provides exciting update on returning Star Wars show
Skeleton Crew’s creators explain why Jude Law’s character doesn’t show up until the final 10 seconds of episode 2: “We wanted you to feel like you’re already lost and on an adventure”
Henry Cavill breaks silence on Warhammer TV show and teases the amount of work that’s already been put into the project
