Yahoo News Star Wars' The Acolyte breaks record for Disney+ as biggest 2024 launch
The Acolyte, the new series in the Star Wars universe, has set a record for Disney+ upon its launch.
The eight-part drama premiered last week (June 4) with its first two episodes, and it has proved to be a successful start. TVLine reported that the first episodes accrued 11.1 million views across its first five days of streaming.
This makes it the biggest launch of the year on the streaming service, beating out competition in the shape of Doctor Who, Marvel’s Echo and X-Men ‘97.
Related: The Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto reveals the surprising influence on his new Star Wars character
The series is set approximately 100 years before the events of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. The plot follows Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) as he teams up with a former padawan, Osha (Amandla Stenberg), to investigate a series of crimes.
Lee, best known for his role in Squid Game, spoke exclusively with Digital Spy ahead of the series’ launch. The actor revealed that he prepared for the role by envisaging that Sol had been trained by the iconic Qui-Gon Jinn, who was played by Liam Neeson in the prequel trilogy.
“In terms of preparing for the role, I went and watched a lot of Star Wars shows and films of the past, studying the actors who have given great performances as Jedi masters,” said Lee. “Of all the performances, I especially got inspiration from Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.
Related: Star Wars show The Acolyte reveals first-look trailer
“I think it was very important to represent that the Jedi philosophy maintains through all these different ages, so I almost imagined Qui-Gon as Master Sol’s padawan and forming that connection between the two of them and maintaining that Jedi philosophy between generations.
“He [Sol] is someone who sacrifices a lot to maintain peace and harmony within his community. I think this type of person is very rare to meet in real life. Of course, you hear about them in the news, but I think this is what makes Master Sol unique.”
The Acolyte streams on Disney+, with new episodes being released on Tuesdays.
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