‘The Acolyte’: Kogonada To Direct Episodes Of The Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Series

The “Star Wars” universe has been landing some acclaimed filmmakers for its upcoming series. We already know Daniels, David Lowery, and Jake Schreier are all helming episodes of “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.” However, it appears that the acclaimed filmmaker behind films such as “After Yang” and “Columbus,” Kogonada, is set to make his directing debut in a galaxy far, far away in the upcoming series, “Star Wars: The Acolyte.” 

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In a recent interview with Discussing Film, Jodie Turner-Smith spilled the beans about acclaimed filmmaker Kogonada working on the upcoming series, “Star Wars: The Acolyte.” We already knew that Turner-Smith was going to appear in the series, but apparently, it was Kogonada who convinced her to join ‘The Acolyte.’ The duo previously worked on “After Yang,” and it’s that experience that made saying yes to Kogonada a no-brainer.

“One day, he phoned me and said, ‘Hey, I’ve been speaking to them about this “Star Wars” project, and your name came up to do it. Has anybody called you about this? Because if you’re going to do it, then that gives me more reason to say yes.’”

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She added, “I was just like, ‘Say no more! You’re directing?!’ He told me what [‘The Acolyte’] was about, and I was like, ‘You’re directing something in this world… and you want me to star? Yes!’ You know, I trust him so implicitly. I respect him so deeply, I will follow him into any fire. So before I even really knew too much, that was a yes for me.”

Turner-Smith continued by saying that she found out the series was being showrun by Leslye Headland who is “incredible and talented.” That helped fuel her excitement for the show. 

“It was just a dream to do it,” she said. “I find that when you’re in the hands of an incredible director, honestly, you can do anything. And that’s how I feel when I work with Kogonada.”

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There aren’t many details about ‘The Acolyte’ right now. We know that Turner-Smith is joined by Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, and Dafne Keen in the cast. The series takes place approximately 100 years before the beginning of the Skywalker Saga and at the end of the High Republic era. Apparently, the story follows a former Jedi padawan who teams up with her former Jedi master to investigate some mystery. Where Turner-Smith comes into play in this story is anyone’s guess at this point. 

We know “Star Wars: The Acolyte” began production in late October 2022, so it’s unlikely we’ll see this series premiere before late-2023 or, more likely, the first half of 2024.