Disney Sets Release Dates for New Star Wars Movies, Delays Avatar Sequels

Star Wars and Avatar to share December pre-Christmas slot from 2021 to 2027.

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 8 May 2019 14:42 IST

Photo Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm, Fox

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Avatar 2 are among Disney's most anticipated movies

Highlights

Star Wars slated for Dec 2022, 2024, and 2026
Avatar sequels to open Dec 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2027
Several untitled Pixar, Marvel films listed through 2022

Disney has set new release dates for future Star Wars movies, while rearranging James Cameron's Avatar sequels and other Fox movies, which now fall under its umbrella after the completion of acquisition back in March. Three untitled Star Wars films have been slated for December 2022, December 2024, and December 2026. Meanwhile, the Avatar sequels have been pushed back and will now open in alternate years: Avatar 2 in December 2021, Avatar 3 in December 2023, Avatar 4 in December 2025, and Avatar 5 in December 2027. Marvel films belonging to Fox's slate have been removed from the schedule, while Marvel Studios retains its eight slots from 2020-2022.

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In an announcement on its official website on Tuesday, Disney revealed an updated release schedule for its upcoming films. As you can tell, Avatar and Star Wars will share the pre-Christmas weekend starting in 2021 through 2027, alternating each year. There are currently two separate Star Wars film series in the works, one from The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson, and the other from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. It's unclear how they will share the three dates among them. Cameron's Avatar sequels were initially slated for December 2020-21 and December 2024-25, but they have now been equally spaced apart starting 2021.

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With the December 2020 now vacant, Disney has placed Steven Spielberg's West Side Story remake for December 18, 2020, and its live-action film Cruella will open December 23, 2020. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt-starrer sci-fi film Ad Astra has been pushed back four months to September 20, 2019. Additionally, two films slated for August 2019 have also been delayed. The much-delayed X-Men horror spin-off The New Mutants will now open April 3, 2020, and Kenneth Branagh-directed Artemis Fowl adaptation flies in May 29, 2020.

“We're excited to put in place a robust and diverse slate that lays the foundation of our long-term strategy, bringing together a breadth of films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Fox, Fox Searchlight and Blue Sky Studios to create an extraordinary collection of cinematic experiences for audiences around the world,” said Cathleen Taff, Disney's president of theatrical distribution, franchise management, and business and audience insights. “With a strong summer already in place, we are eager to carry that momentum forward over the coming years thanks to a creative wellspring of bold and imaginative stories coming from our world-class studios — including several new chapters of two revered franchises, Avatar and Star Wars.”

Here's the updated Disney schedule for your easy perusal, with only the biggest releases mentioned.

Upcoming Disney movies in 2019

May 24, 2019 — Aladdin
June 7, 2019 — Dark Phoenix
June 21, 2019 — Toy Story 4
July 19, 2019 — The Lion King
September 20, 2019 — Ad Astra
November 22, 2019 — Frozen 2
December 20, 2019 — Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Upcoming Disney movies in 2020

March 6, 2020 — Onward (Pixar)
March 27, 2020 — Mulan
April 3, 2020 — The New Mutants
May 1, 2020 — Untitled Marvel movie
May 29, 2020 — Artemis Fowl
June 19, 2020 — Untitled Pixar movie
November 6, 2020 — Untitled Marvel movie
November 25, 2020 — Untitled Disney animated movie
December 18, 2020 — West Side Story
December 23, 2020 — Cruella

Upcoming Disney movies in 2021

February 12, 2021 — Untitled Marvel movie
March 12, 2021 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
May 7, 2021 — Untitled Marvel movie
May 28, 2021 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
June 18, 2021 — Untitled Pixar movie
July 9, 2021 — Indiana Jones 5
July 30, 2021 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
October 8, 2021 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
November 5, 2021 — Untitled Marvel movie
November 24, 2021 — Untitled Disney animated movie
December 17, 2021 — Avatar 2

Upcoming Disney movies in 2022

February 18, 2022 — Untitled Marvel movie
March 18, 2022 — Untitled Pixar movie
May 6, 2022 — Untitled Marvel movie
May 27, 2022 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
June 17, 2022 — Untitled Pixar movie
July 8, 2022 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
July 29, 2022 — Untitled Marvel movie
October 7, 2022 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
November 4, 2022 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
November 23, 2022 — Untitled Disney animated movie
December 16, 2022 — Untitled Star Wars movie

Upcoming Disney movies in 2023

February 17, 2023 — Untitled Disney live-action movie
December 22, 2023 — Avatar 3

Upcoming Disney movies in 2024

December 20, 2024 — Untitled Star Wars movie

Upcoming Disney movies in 2025

December 19, 2025 — Avatar 4

Upcoming Disney movies in 2026

December 18, 2026 — Untitled Star Wars movie

Upcoming Disney movies in 2027

December 17, 2027 — Avatar 5

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Further reading: Disney, Star Wars, Avatar, Fox, Marvel, Steven Spielberg, Ad Astra, X Men, The New Mutants, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones 5, Avatar 2, Avatar 3, Avatar 4, Avatar 5