Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte and the Disney Star Wars spiral

Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte and the Disney Star Wars spiral

Skeleton Crew is a great new addition to the Star Wars universe, so far an outstanding series full of heart, humor and adventure, successfully emulating the Goonies/ET vibes it was going for while doing its own thing.

It could also be the least-watched Star Wars series of all time.

Although “Skeleton Crew” itself is No. 1 on Disney Plus, it failed to place in major trackers like Variety/Luminate’s weekly Top 10. The series did not land in the charts in either its premiere week or its second week. At least The Acolyte actually charted initially, but as we know, it later became Disney’s least-watched series. The one before? Andor.

Disney is currently in a death spiral when it comes to what exactly to do with Star Wars, and it doesn’t look like they have a real coherent plan to get out of this spiral. The problem:

1) Disney Star Wars has mined the Skywalker era to death. Literally, as Han, Luke, and Leia all died over the course of the final trilogy. They seem to understand that they need to start telling more stories that go beyond the stories associated with these characters.

2) Nobody watches these shows. Again, it’s no coincidence that Andor, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew seem to be the least-watched series they’ve ever made. While Andor and Skeleton Crew are set right before or after the “current” era, there are no familiar characters in them, and that’s enough to make people drop them. The Mandalorian had the advantage of having a guy who looked like Boba Fett and a little guy who looked like Yoda, but even that series couldn’t resist including characters like the real Boba Fett, Bo Katan, Ahsoka, and eventually even Introducing Luke Skywalker. Now it’s somehow become a film. The only one that Disney actually makes, apparently.

3) It doesn’t matter if the shows are Good or not. “Andor” is widely considered to be one of the best Star Wars pieces of all time, and yet that doesn’t make it a hit with audiences. The second season only exists because the deal was already done before it aired. The Acolyte certainly had more mixed reviews, but it wasn’t a Boba Fett book. Meanwhile, Skeleton Crew has a high score, is fairly uncontroversial among fans, most are really enjoying it, and…it’s the least seen work they’ve ever done.

4) The biggest problem by far is that all Disney Star Wars content, Star Wars or not, is staggeringly priced. In another universe, The Acolyte might have survived if it hadn’t cost a paltry $180 million. A show that used a lot of practical effects and sets like Andor might have seemed cheaper. It cost $250 million. Skeleton Crew, which you might have thought finally had the budget for a smaller story, cost $136 million. They just aren’t in a position to not spend a lot more money than makes sense on projects like this.

What is the solution here? There isn’t really a great movie, but other than putting Star Wars on hold for a while until people get more excited about it again, my job would be to make more movies and fewer shows.

It may make sense to spend $200 million on a brand new Star Wars movie that will probably make half a billion dollars in the worst case scenario. It makes less sense to spend $200 million on a Disney Plus show that is unlikely to generate new subscriptions and competes with episodes of Bluey on the D+ top 10 list. If, for whatever reason, these costs cannot be reduced, taking a chance on the box office seems like a better decision than continuing to make ridiculously expensive television shows. But on the fan side it would be a shame if that meant fewer Andors and Skeleton Crews. However, from Disney’s side, I have no idea how things will continue.

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