Did Squid Game Star Just Shade Star Wars?
The Acolyte is an upcoming Star Wars TV series created by Leslye Headland.
It is set during the period of the High Republic era, roughly 100 years before the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
So far there is no confirmed release date, but shooting has already began in October of 2022, so we can expect it to appear on the screens no earlier than late 2023.
Precious few details about the series have been revealed so far, though The Acolyte had been in development at least since 2020. But what we already definitely know is names of some of the actors who are going to star in it.
And one of them is Lee Jung-jae, who is best known for playing the lead role in the South Korean survival drama Squid Game, which managed to become the most watched series in the history of Netflix.
So, he's already accustomed to success and fame as he's stepping into Star Wars, and he has good basis for his opinion about how a well-organized filming process for a successful series looks like.
And the opinion which Lee had voiced recently, when speaking with All K-Pop, is mostly unflattering for The Acolyte and Lucasfilm:
"I was told not to talk about it as much as possible. It seems that filming will run until March or April. I actually felt that in some ways, filming sets in Korea are actually more efficient."
He added:
"There are many aspects of the work which are similar here and in Korea, but I feel that there are areas where the Korean method is more efficient. Of course, there are aspects I am learning from as well."
He offered no commentary that would spoil actual contents of the series. Then again, what he said about the current Lucasfilm should not be a big surprise.
There is plenty of information strongly suggesting that besides any real or perceived problems with writing, Lucasfilm post the Disney acquisition just isn't organized efficiently from the purely technical standpoint of a studio as a film-and-series-making machine.
From project cancelations to starting filming the sequel Star Wars trilogy without an overarching plan, they are clearly struggling with the whole process, and what Lee Jung-jae saw likely reflect that.