The hype is heating up for the upcoming debut of the new live-action Star Wars series Ahsoka. Set after the events of Return of the Jedi and the end of the epilogue of Star Wars Rebels, members of the starship Ghost crew will reunite to face a new, rising threat to the New Republic. Now, it seems word has surfaced on what fans can expect for the length of the two-episode premiere coming later this month.
The news comes from Twitter user Cryptic4Qual (via Inverse), who has reported accurate runtimes for films and television shows in the past.
AHSOKA: POSSIBLE RUNTIME FOR THE FIRST TWO EPISODES SURFACES ONLINE
The runtimes that Cryptic4Qual reported are based on early press screenings for the new series. So, if that runtime of a little under 97 minutes is accurate, that would be an average runtime of about 48 minutes per episode for the first two episodes of the new season, which would be a fairly decent length for a premium streaming television series that likely has a decent-sized cost per episode. Granted, live-action Star Wars episodes do tend to vary in length from episode to episode.
For example, The Mandalorian’s Season 3 premiere was about 38 minutes. The second episode was about 45 minutes. That also includes the logo introductions and credit sequences, which can make episode runtimes a little bit misleading sometimes. It will be interesting to see how the series manages its time over its planned eight episodes for its first season.
The upcoming series stars Rosario Dawson, who reprises her role as former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano from The Mandalorian series. It also sees Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, and Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn. Mikkelsen reprises his role as Thrawn from the hit animated series, Star Wars Rebels. The late actor Ray Stevenson also appears in the series as Baylan Skoll. Stevenson surprisingly passed away earlier in May at 58 years old.
The series is developed by The Mandalorian’s Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, with Filoni serving as the lead writer and showrunner. Filoni is also the executive producer of the series alongside Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, and Carrie Beck. Karen Gilchrist is serving as co-executive producer of the new series.
In the new series, Tano is investigating an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy. The series is part of a multi-year, multi-show, and multi-season plan by Filoni and Favreau for a new cinematic Star Wars event. The planned movie is set to bring together threads of the various original live-action Star Wars shows that Filoni and Favreau worked on, including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka.
Filoni is attached to direct the new movie and is working on the project with Favreau as producer. The New Republic Era project does not yet have an official release date.
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It should be interesting to see how the new series expands the Star Wars Universe and potentially resolves loose threads from the Rebels television series. Fans have been waiting for answers on the whereabouts of certain characters from the end of Rebels since that show ended back in 2018. So, it will be nice to see things finally getting clarified in Ahsoka.
Ahsoka debuts on August 23 on Disney+. The show will have a two-episode premiere, followed by weekly episode releases. The season will consist of eight episodes, with the first season finale expected to bow on Oct. 4.
What do you think of the news? Are you excited about the upcoming Ahsoka television series? Do you have a favorite character from Star Wars Rebels you are most excited about seeing in live-action for this new spinoff? Let us know your thoughts on the news on The Illuminerdi’s social media.
SOURCE: Cryptic4Qual, Inverse
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