‘Cult of Love’: ‘The Acolyte’ Creator to Bring Her Hit Broadway Show to the Big Screen!!

After creating the first Star Wars project set outside the main Skywalker timeline, The Acolyte’s Leslye Headland has officially found her next project. Headland recently produced the Cult of Love Broadway adaptation, which follows a family who return home for Christmas, and THR is reporting that the stage play is getting a feature film adaptation. Headland will write the screenplay and direct the film, with Will Ferrell and Jessica Elbaum producing under their Gloria Sanchez Productions Banner. Zachary Quinto, Shailene Woodley, and Barbie Ferreira all starred in the stage show, which ran from November 2024 to January 2025, but it’s unclear if any of them will return for the live-action film. Other casting is also being kept under wraps, as are details on production start or potential release windows.

The Acolyte was the first live-action Star Wars project set during the High Republic, and although the show set up plenty of threads to pull on in future seasons, it was sadly canceled not long after the Season 1 finale. The Acolyte even recruited a star-studded roster of talent to bring this new Star Wars story to life, led by Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game) and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix). Amandla Stenberg also starred in the series as Mae and Osha, with Manny Jacinto portraying Qimir. The Acolyte follows an investigation into a murderous crime spree that sees multiple Jedi turning up dead. The show earned a respectable 78% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was review-bombed by audiences, which led to it earning a “rotten” 19% score on the aggregate site.

There Were Long-Term Plans for ‘The Acolyte’

Although we’ll never know how The Acolyte’s story would have unfolded, it has been confirmed that there were plans for the show beyond just the first season. Manny Jacinto divulged to Collider last year that Headland had plans for three full seasons of the show, and even a live-action movie to wrap everything up. Most members of the main cast perish in the first season of The Acolyte, but it likely would have been no trouble to bring in another group of stars to star alongside Stenberg and Jacinto in Season 2 and beyond. The only other project that’s been announced outside the Skywalker timeline is James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi movie, which follows the first person to ever connect with the Force. Unfortunately, the movie has been in development limbo and has received minimal concrete updates.