Skeleton Crew
Disney
Skeleton Crew is a great new addition to the Star Wars universe, so far a stellar series full of heart, comedy and adventure that does successfully emulate the Goonies/ET vibes it was going for, while also being its own thing.
It also may end up being the least-watched Star Wars show ever.
Skeleton Crew, despite being #1 on Disney Plus itself, has failed to rank in wider trackers like Variety/Luminate’s weekly top 10. It did not chart either during its premiere week or its second week. The Acolyte, at least, did in fact chart at first, but as we know, that went on to become Disney’s least-watched show. The one before that? Andor.
Disney is now in a death spiral when it comes to what exactly to do with Star Wars and it does not seem like they have a terribly coherent plan to emerge from it. The issue:
1) Disney Star Wars has mined the Skywalker era to death. Literally, as Han, Luke and Leia all died over the course of the last trilogy. They seem to understand they need to start telling more stories outside of those linked to these characters.
2) No one watches those shows. Again, it is no coincidence that Andor, The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew appear to be the least-watched series they’ve made. While Andor and Skeleton Crew take place right before or after the “current” era, they don’t feature well-known characters, and that’s enough to get people to ditch them. The Mandalorian had the benefit of a guy who looked like Boba Fett and a little dude who looked like Yoda, but even that show couldn’t resist bringing in characters like actual Boba Fett, Bo Katan, Ahsoka and even Luke Skywalker eventually. Now, somehow, it’s become a movie. The only one Disney appears to actually be making.
Andor
Disney
3) It does not matter whether the shows are good or not. Andor is universally recognized as some of the finest Star Wars content…ever, and yet that did not make it a viewership hit. Its second season only exists because that deal was made before it even aired. The Acolyte certainly had more mixed reviews, but it was no Book of Boba Fett. Now, Skeleton Crew is highly scored, pretty non-controversial with fans, most of whom are really enjoying it and…it’s the least-watched thing they’ve ever made.
4) Far and away the biggest issue is that all Disney Star Wars content, Star Wars or otherwise, has an astonishing price tag attached to it. In another universe, The Acolyte maybe could have survived had it not cost a ridiculous $180 million. A show that used a lot of practical effects and sets like Andor may have seemed cheaper. It cost $250 million. Skeleton Crew, which you might have thought was finally getting the budget in line with a smaller scale story, cost $136 million. They are simply incapable of not spending way more money than is rational on projects like this.
What’s the solution here? There is not really a great one, but other than putting all of Star Wars on ice for a while until people get more excited for it again, my position would be to make more movies and less shows.
It may make sense to spend $200 million on a brand-new Star Wars movie that at worst, is probably going to bring in half a billion dollars. It makes less sense to spend $200 million on a Disney Plus show that is barely going to drive new subscriptions and is competing with episodes of Bluey on the D+ Top 10 list. If these costs, for whatever reason, cannot come down, taking a chance at the box office rather than continuing to make ludicrously expensive TV shows seems like the better call. But on the fan side, if that means less Andors and Skeleton Crews, that would be a bummer. From Disney’s end, however, I have no idea how they keep going like this.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
