Disney is NOT messing around, folks, and have shuffled pretty much their entire lineup while adding some new titles to the release calendar. That includes a new Star Wars film in 2026, a complete overhaul of Marvel Studios films, and delaying all of James Cameron’s Avatar sequels.
So let’s start with the new Star Wars film, which has been dated for December 18th 2026. That means two films set in that galaxy will arrive that year. Remember the December 2025 date that’s been sitting open for months? Well, it’s now shifted to May 22nd 2026. Another Star Wars film is set to arrive on December 17th 2027. One of these is likely to be the Daisy Ridley movie that sees her return as Rey Skywalker, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Another could be Dave Filon’s Heir to the Empire movie tying up The Mandalorian storylines, while James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi is also in the mix. Doubtful that Taika Waititi’s movie will be ready.
Other moves include Disney adding the live-action Moana to the schedule, setting it for June 27th 2025. Dwayne Johnson will reprise his role as Maui for that one.
The Marvel moves include Deadpool 3 being moved up from Nov. 8th 2024, to May 3rd 2024. The newly-titled Captain America: Brave New World is pushed back a couple of months from May 3rd 2025 to July 26th 2024, which means Thunderbolts also has to go, landing at December 20th 2024. That bumps the long-delayed Blade to February 14th 2025 (that movie is NEVER coming, folks), and Fantastic Four to May 2nd 2025. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty drops an entire year to May 1st 2026, which forces Avengers: Secret Wars to May 7th 2027. Damn.
Finally, James Cameron’s Avatar sequels have all been pushed back a year, meaning the final one might not arrive until 2031. Avatar 3 shifts to December 19th 2025, with Avatar 4 arriving on December 21st 2029, and Avatar 5 on December 19th 2031.
Hope you weren’t really eager for that return trip to Pandora! [Variety]
Each Avatar film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect. The team is hard at work and can’t wait to bring audiences back to Pandora in December 2025. pic.twitter.com/DrFX01qzTa
— Jon Landau (@jonlandau) June 13, 2023
