Summary
Exclusive third-party data revealsThe Acolyteis a true success story forStar Warsafter all. The streaming boom has made it very difficult to fully understand how different TV shows are performing - and especially so when they’re controversial.The Acolytehas been subject of a review-bombing campaign, meaningmany traditional indicators are pretty much worthless. Although the Disney+ TV show is known to have had lower viewership thanAhsokain its first week, other stats seem almost designed to confuse rather than shine a light on the situation.
Screen Rant has spoken exclusively toReelgood, a third-party analytics firm who examiine viewing trends across all US streaming platforms, based on the monitoring of 20 million monthly viewing decisions. They’ve looked through their data to see howThe Acolytecompares to other live-action Disney+Star WarsTV shows. The results are surprising, and indicateThe Acolytemay be a lot more popular than many believe.
Third-Party Data Shows How The Acolyte Compares To Other Star Wars Shows
Reelgood compared the live-actionStar WarsDisney+ TV shows, looking at the first 14 days sinceThe Acolyte’s release. They found thatThe Acolyteis the second most successful in terms of streaming and engagement, outperforming the average top 100 TV show by a factor of 6. It is only surpassed byObi-Wan Kenobi, which outperformed the average top 100 TV show by a factor of 8.
Reelgood define “engagement” as an aggregation of user interactions with titles across Reelgood platforms, including playbacks, tracking, and other interactions.
This data gives a fascinating insight into how the variousStar WarsDisney+ TV showsare performing. There can be no doubt the positive reaction toThe Acolyteepisode 5 will also have boosted the show’s performance, but the overall impact will only really become clear when the show has come to an end. Until then, though, this data suggests the online backlash againstThe Acolytereally isn’t representative of the fandom.
Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode Guide - Cast Members, Biggest Takeaways & Easter Eggs
Here’s everything you need to follow along with Star Wars: The Acolyte, from references and trivia to main takeaways from each new episode.
The Acolyte Backlash Isn’t Representative Of The Fandom At All
The Acolytehas been the subject of a massive online backlash, with a very visible review-bombing campaign; at time of writing, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes sits at an absurd 14 percent, with an improbable 25,000+ ratings (more than all three seasons ofThe Mandalorian). While some criticisms are made in good faith - the show is far from perfect, with notable pacing and dialogue problems on occasion - others haven’t been. Acameo from Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundisparked a furious online debate over whether the show had broken canon because of his age, never specified in canon.
The problem, though, is that the scale of this backlash has seemed out of all proportion to the actual quality of the show. Now, Reelgood’s data suggests the YouTubers and review-bombers really don’t represent the fandom as much as they claim. That’s good news forThe Acolyte, and frankly for the fandom as well.
The Acolyte
Cast
The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
