Star Wars: The Acolyte Showrunner Reveals Episodic Run Times

Star Wars fans have been given an abundance of insight into the all-new Star Wars: The Acolyte TV series today, from a new trailer to other teaser images, with showrunner Leslye Headland confirming today that each episode is expected to have a run time between 30 and 35 minutes. Between the series The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Book of Boba, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Andor, and Star Wars: Ahsoka, we’ve seen a variety of episode lengths, with Headland’s comments implying this The Acolyte will be on the shorter end of the spectrum for run times. Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to premiere on Disney+ on June 4th.

When asked by Collider about the run time of episodes, Headland confirmed, “About 30 minutes, yeah. I would say some of them are a little bit longer, like the finale, I think it’s 40 minutes. But there are also some that I think are barely 30 minutes. On average, I would say somewhere between like 30-35 [minutes].”

Headland also expressed how, while a series like Obi-Wan Kenobi was initially envisioned as a feature film and ultimately became a six-episode limited series that told an overall storyline, she doesn’t see The Acolyte as an extended movie that is broken up into eight chapters.

On whether she considered the series to be a “four-hour movie,” Headland clarified, “You know, I don’t. I would consider Russian Doll that. I think that it was this continuous [thing], like a really good album. It was meant to be sat and watched and listened to and all that kind of stuff. But I actually think that it is a more weekly experience, and I think it’s good that it’s a weekly experience because I think when you’re dealing with really heavy issues, especially in Star Wars, I think having a break for a week is actually a good idea. Because when Luke says in The Last Jedi, ‘It’s time for the Jedi to end,’ it might be nice to have a week after that, you know what I mean? Like, what does that mean? Let’s have a capital-D discourse about it. So I don’t see it as a four-hour movie, no.”

In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is set to premiere on Disney+ on June 4th.

Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!