The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland has discussed the length of each episode and the possibilities for a second season.
I believe the series is eight episodes. Are the episodes 30 minutes, or more like an hour?
HEADLAND: About 30 minutes, yeah. I would say some of them are a little bit longer, like the finale, I think it’s 40 minutes. But there are also some that I think are barely 30 minutes. On average, I would say somewhere between like 30-35 [minutes].
Do you consider this like a four-hour movie?
HEADLAND: You know, I don’t. I would consider Russian Doll that. I think that it was this continuous [thing], like a really good album. It was meant to be sat and watched and listened to and all that kind of stuff. But I actually think that it is a more weekly experience, and I think it’s good that it’s a weekly experience because I think when you’re dealing with really heavy issues, especially in Star Wars, I think having a break for a week is actually a good idea. Because when Luke says in The Last Jedi, “it’s time for the Jedi to end,” it might be nice to have a week after that, you know what I mean? Like, what does that mean? Let’s have a capital-D discourse about it. So I don’t see it as a four-hour movie, no.
If the show comes out, fans love it, it gets great ratings, have you guys been working at all on the possibility of a Season 2? Do you view this as a one season show? What can you say to fans who might want more?
HEADLAND: I would say that when I pitched it, I definitely pitched it as a multi-season show. There are a lot of things at the end of this season that I think are narrative threads that are not tied up, for sure. However, I am the type of writer that is not interested in an emotional cliffhanger. I want you to feel like you’ve had a particular type of catharsis, and an emotional experience in watching those eight episodes because I like rewarding the audience with that. I still think that means you can pepper in things that are like, “I wanna see where that’s gonna go” and, “Oh, I didn’t realize that person was related to that person in this way, and I’d like to see more.” But there isn’t something where you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat to have that catharsis, and then you have to wait two years. These things take forever to make, so I would hate to make a season that didn’t feel complete, even if it was still open for more story.
One of the things about streaming shows, I think, the problem is there is such a huge break between seasons for the fans. So I am curious, have you figured out what Season 2 would be? Do you have any scripts? If Disney said we want to make another season, how quick could you actually make it?
HEADLAND: We could make it pretty quickly. We definitely have a timeline. I have a lot of ideas, and again, a lot of it was stuff that I told Kathleen early on, in terms of where I would like the season to go, and the conflicts that I see happening, specifically in the second season. But I have been working nonstop on this for a very long time, so I am definitely taking a much needed break before we get the writer room going. And I’d like to see how the show performs. I’m very interested in that. I’m interested in seeing, like you said, the ratings and seeing what are the things that people…I don’t wanna say it’s in reaction to fan reaction, but you do get feedback at the end of the season, which is kind of nice, to just be like, “ok, those people hated that.” It doesn’t mean we don’t do it, it just means we’re armed with the information that that was an unpopular thing. So we can do it anyway, but knowing that stuff, I think, is really good. I think they would love to start it immediately. They’re very happy with the series. But I need a break. I also have a baby. I don’t know where the baby came from. I know she’s giving me a cold [laughs].
Read the interview in full. The Acolyte arrives on June 4th only on Disney+, watch the teaser trailer here.
