Disney Shifts Star Wars Release Dates

By James Herrera

Today Disney has announced they'll be shifting a lot of movies around. From Marvel films to Avatar films, and their live action remakes. One thing that blew me away is that the last Avatar movie has been pushed back to 2031.... That's 22 years from the first movie! But the biggest news is of course the future Star Wars movies. According to reports, the three Star Wars movies that were announced at Star Wars Celebration London will be dropping in 2026 and 2027. 

But wait, that's only two years? Shouldn't it be 2026, 2027 and 2028? Yeah, I would have to agree with you on that, but the dates are correct. This means that two movies will be released in 2026. 

​Disney announced that an untitled Star Wars movie will be released May 22nd 2026 instead of December 19th, 2025 and another untitled Star Wars movie will be released 7 months later on December 18th, 2026. And of course the third untitled Star Wars movie will be released December 17th, 2027. This is crazy news. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact we are getting two Star Wars movies the same year, but... I don't want another Solo to happen. 

As we all know, Solo came out 5 months after The Last Jedi, and it was crammed into a month that was insanely busy, both Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2 were released before Solo giving it no chance. It was later reported that Bob Iger was the one who decided this and admitted it was not a good choice. Lucasfilm was fighting for their December release, but I think Disney thought their Mary Poppins sequel was going to be the holiday movie that year.
So here we are again two Star Wars movies with less than a year between them.
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As nervous as I am, I'm also insanely excited. And to steal a great quote from Colin, 2026, "will be the year of Star Wars!" Think about it, we are going to be getting promos starting at the end of 2025 and going through till May of 2026, then after that we are going to start getting more information about the December release. Which means more trailers, and posters and hype. 

And that brings us to the next thing... Which movie will be released in May of 2026? 
Well, this is me just guessing, but I'm thinking it's going to be the Mandoverse movie directed by Dave Filoni. It makes sense. Filoni is all about tradition, and all about that Star Wars feel. So why not release a movie in May like A New Hope? I can already see the teaser poster. It'll look just like the original poster with the words, "Coming to your Galaxy This Summer," with Grogu somewhere on the poster. Perfect. And it's right at the start of Summer. Kids will be out of school and wanting to rush to the theater to see Din Djarin, Din Grogu, Ahsoka, and Boba Fett in their climatic battle with Grand Admiral Thrawn. If Lucasfilm were to do it right (which I'm hoping) they could make it the movie event of the Summer. 

​Then flash forward a few months to the December 2026 movie. I'm thinking this movie will be the James Mangold, Dawn of the Jedi, movie. This movie will be different from other Star Wars movies. He has described it as "The Ten Commandments of the Force." So we are all predicting it is going to be huge, it's going to be fantastical, with some great action and a great story... perfect for a Christmas release! And we are all hoping this could be the start of a new trilogy. 

Which leaves the December 2027 movie as the New Jedi Order movie starring Daisy Ridley as Rey. This will be the first time seeing Rey since 2019 in The Rise Of Skywalker. I feel Lucasfilm should take their time with this one, I mean with all of them to be honest, but this one in particular. Some people consider the Sequel trilogy a mistake, and not part of Star Wars (Not me. Although not perfect, they are still Star Wars). To make a good story featuring Rey and to bring back John Boyega, and to really flesh out the story and have us wanting more should be all Lucasfilm is concerned about. 

I feel them pushing back these Star Wars movies is a gift for Lucasfilm. Sit all your writers in a room, and work through the entire story, and the possibilities of new Star Wars movies. Make sure everything you can plan is planned before you start shooting a single frame. And if something needs to be shifted around, make sure all your writers and future filmmakers are aware. 

It's strange that the sequel trilogy didn't do this, but it's not just them. I read that Marvel writers and filmmakers don't communicate with each other really. They're just as surprised as fans are when they watch movies which I think is a huge mistake. Hide the plot from the fans, not the writers. 

But there's one more thing...

Actually, two things...

Taika Watiti and Rian Johnson.

Where are their movies? When are their movies? 

We have no idea. From all accounts Taika is still writing a Star Wars film. And there has been zero mention of Rian Johnson's movies. 

But as of now, I feel these release dates that were announced today are based off the three movies we were given at Celebration 2023. 

Let us know your thoughts on these new dates! 
MTFBWY!  

Also, how cool would it be if Filoni's movie opened with this logo?!