The bad news concerning the Star Wars franchise isn’t done yet. Yesterday, it was reported that Lucasfilm has scrapped Patty Jenkins and Kevin Feige’s Star Wars movies, though Taika Waititi’s feature set in a galaxy far, far away apparently still has some life in it. Now it’s been revealed that The Acolyte, one of the upcoming Star Wars shows Disney+ subscribers will be able to stream, is the subject of a lawsuit.
Karyn McCarthy, whose credits include producing House of Cards and executive producing Ballers, has sent a breach of contract lawsuit Lucasfilm’s way over her work on The Acolyte. According to Deadline, McCarthy was fired from the show created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland after just a few weeks of work. McCarthy joined The Acolyte in early April 2022 after turning down the opportunity to run the upcoming Apple TV+ series Sugar, which stars Colin Farrell. However, McCarthy’s lawsuit claims that after two weeks, Lucasfilm informed her “it wanted out of the deal,” and by that point, the offer to oversee Sugar was also off the table. As it’s put in the lawsuit:
As a result of its bad faith and wrongful termination, Defendants deprived Ms. McCarthy significant employment, from which she would have earned millions of dollars over the life of the series.
Karyn McCarthy quickly came aboard The Acolyte after a “broad strokes” agreement was sent to her agent, David Morris, in an email from Lucasfilm VP Physical Productions Candice Campos, who reportedly said how “we really want to make this work!” However, following McCarthy being let go from the Star Wars series, Lucasfilm allegedly denied it had ever made a deal with her despite, among other things, have sent a memorandum of the aforementioned agreement. Furthermore, despite McCarthy being attached to The Acolyte for two weeks, Lucasfilm supposedly only offered to pay her $5,000 for one day of work, which she rejected.
This brings us back to Karyn McCarthy’s lawsuit against Lucasfilm, with her attorneys asking for “a wide range of unspecified damages.” Lucasfilm did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment, but this has the makings of a serious legal saga, depending on how far along it goes. Once there are any major update on what’s happening between McCarthy and Lucasfilm, we’ll let you know.
Meanwhile, The Acolyte has been shooting since October 2022 and will consist of eight episodes by the time all is said and done. Among the things we know about The Acolyte is it takes place at the end of the High Republic era, i.e. roughly 100 years before The Phantom Menace, and follows a former Palawan reuniting with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes. The Acolyte’s main cast includes Amandla Stenberg as the lead character, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafoe Keen, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, Carrie-Anne Moss and Margarita Levieva.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news about The Acolyte, and head over to Disney+ to easily stream the Star Wars movies in order and view the platform’s original Star Wars shows.
