The Acolyte Filming in Madeiras Fanal Forest, Portugal, on March 19-22; Series Expected To Run for Multiple Seasons

Leslye Headland's upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte (codenamed 'Paradox') has been filming in the UK for several months now, but they might be expanding their scope. Local reports from MadeiraIslandNews.com have been circulating for a few days regarding the Portuguese island serving as the backdrop for an upcoming Star Wars series. Now, another post from a local website informs that the island's Fanal Forest will be closed from March 19-22 (via r/StarWarsLeaks).



Only two live-action Star Wars projects are currently in production, Andor and The Acolyte, so there weren't a lot of options. Bespin Bulletin reported shortly after the first story was posted on Reddit that it was indeed The Acolyte that would be filming on the Portuguese island. Details on the shoot are being kept under wraps at the moment, but it's likely that the Fanal Forest will not be the only place where cameras will be rolling. The original report stated that builders and set designers had been on location for a few days, with producers and cast members arriving soon; they also believe that they will be filming on the North and South coasts of the island through the end of the month.



It seems unlikely, then, that this is second-unit footage or establishing shots for the new series. If producers and cast members will be on set, they are definitely planning on a few days' worth of shooting -- traveling expenses can add up to large sums and you don't start throwing around that kind of money for two minutes of screen time. This is probably going to be part of a semi-large sequence inside one of the episodes, if we were to guess.







This is also not the first time the upcoming series has been on the news lately. Deadline reported on Wednesday that producer Karyn McCarthy had filed a lawsuit for breach of contract against Lucasfilm. So far, we are only hearing this from one side of the table, but court filings provided to the trade reveal that McCarthy had been courted by Disney and Apple with 'aggressive offers' to join The Acolyte and Sugar, respectively, with McCarthy eventually deciding to join the former as an executive producer, only to be removed from the production two weeks later 'without reason, without justification'. A lot has to be ironed out in court, and since Lucasfilm has yet to comment on the story (for obvious, legal reasons), we will not be drawing any premature conclusions.



However, the lawsuit did provide some interesting details regarding the upcoming series. For starters, it's said that 'the series would require her to be overseas for at least a year and probably several years', hinting that there could be more than one season of The Acolyte planned out should it perform well. That is also confirmed at the end of page four, when it says:

It's also mentioned that when McCarthy was approached to join the series in April of 2022, she was given access to the complete Season One Bible, as well as a Series Overview, which laid out the overall structure of the show past season one.



More details on The Acolyte are expected to be revealed on April 7, during the 'Lucasfilm Studio Showcase' panel at Star Wars Celebration. Headland and series lead Amandla Stenberg could even make an appearance, given that the show's main base of operations is located at Shinfield Studios, a 40-mile drive West of London; they could even show off a behind-the-scenes look at the production, or even an exclusive teaser for Celebration attendees. A release window could also be provided; we expect it to be sometime in the spring/early summer of 2024.



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