Amandla Stenberg is in talks to star in Leslye Headland’s live-action “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” which will premiere on Disney Plus later this year.
The figure Stenberg will play is being kept under wraps, although in the “Star Wars” world, an acolyte is a Sith who has only recently begun their training under an experienced Sith Lord. Of course, this was before Sith Lord Darth Bane established the Rule of Two, which states that there can only be two Sith in existence at any given time – one master and one apprentice.
Stenberg’s and Lucasfilm’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Variety.
“The Acolyte” will take set in the latter days of the “Star Wars” timeline’s High Republic era, and will focus on the emergence of covert dark side forces, according to Disney and Lucasfilm. To put things in perspective, the High Republic era ended around 50 years before the events of “The Phantom Menace.”
Stenberg, who is non-binary, rose to prominence in the 2012 movie adaptation of “The Hunger Games” as Rue. They’ve now gone on to play Alana Beck in films such as “The Hate U Give,” “The Darkest Minds,” “Everything, Everything,” and the recently released feature adaptation of “Dear Evan Hansen.” Stenberg has also appeared in “Sleepy Hollow,” “The Eddy,” and as “Mr. Robinson” on television. The Illuminerdi was the first to report on their possible involvement in “The Acolyte.”
UTA and Del Shaw Moonves represent them.
“The Acolyte,” which Variety exclusively reported on in April 2020, features Headland as a writer, executive producer, and showrunner. On May 4 of that year, Disney and Lucasfilm formally confirmed the project. Production on the show is set to begin in mid-2022.
This is the most recent “Star Wars” live-action news in recent weeks. Both Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Ivanna Sakhno have joined the cast of the Ahsoka Tano series, which stars Rosario Dawson. “The Book of Boba Fett,” the next instalment in the franchise, will premiere on Disney Plus on December 29. In addition, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor and the Cassian Andor series starring Diego Luna are both set to premiere in 2022, with more series in the works.