Disney Lost Even More Money On Its Woke Star Wars Show Than Originally Thought

Disney has been learning some difficult financial lessons in recent years. A string of box office failures, from "Lightyear" to "Strange World" to "Wish" have all lost money from the animation side of the studio. The once-invincible Marvel Studios has churned out several flops in a row, most notably "The Marvels," one of the biggest box office bombs in years. 

Many of these failures were associated with political or social intent. Whether the content was overtly political or not, the focus of the film, on and off the screen, was obvious. The two successes Disney's had in 2024 were an almost explicit rejection of that premise. "Deadpool and Wolverine" poked fun at the "woke mob," and "Inside Out 2" was completely apolitical.

It isn't just movie theaters where Disney has struggled. And it isn't just animation and Marvel. The company's other signature studio, Lucasfilm, put out an openly woke Star Wars themed-show, "The Acolyte" on Disney+ earlier in 2024. When the series was canceled in August, it was viewed as a disastrous, massive financial bomb thanks to its rumored $180 million budget.

Turns out, the actual budget was much, much higher. Like, $50 million higher. At least. 

A show that lost viewers, had horrible audience reviews, and a woefully inadequate plot, writing and acting. And it cost $230 million to make.

LONDON - Amandla Stenberg attends the "Star Wars: The Acolyte" UK Premiere Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on May 28, 2024. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

‘The Acolyte’ Was Another Massive Loser For Disney

New tax filings from the entertainment giant revealed that the production budget for "The Acolyte" had ballooned up to $230 million…while the show was still in post-production. Disney almost certainly had to spend more on post before it started streaming. And that doesn't account for what was surely a massive marketing spend.

A conservative estimate would put marketing costs around an additional $50 million. At least. Disney likely spent somewhere approaching $280-300 million to make, edit and market "The Acolyte." And it canceled it after one disappointing season.

This is what happens when studios and the entertainment industry at large try to make content for an audience that doesn't actually exist. Unfortunately for them, there are precious few "woke" consumers, despite that demographic being wildly overrepresented on the internet. 

There are, however, a huge number of Star Wars fans who want quality stories told in the Star Wars universe. They can tell when they're being presented a bad product. A product created to check boxes, not tell well-executed new and exciting stories. "The Acolyte" failed at its most basic goal: being a quality piece of entertainment. It failed at being a realistic depiction of the Star Wars world. And it turned off viewers by injecting modern left-wing political ideology where it didn't belong.

As these new tax filings show, it cost Disney a fortune to make its woke creative talent happy. It might not be directly related, but the company announced this week they would lay off 300 staffers to continue reducing costs. Maybe next time they could start by not insulting their audience.