At the end of Wet Hot American Summer, the counselors at Camp Firewood promise that “in ten years from today, we’ll meet again.” It’s a solid plan, in theory — the long-term equivalent of “Let’s get a drink sometime” (never) — but they have a hard time nailing an exact time. Finally, everyone agrees on 9:30, which is good for McKinley, “because I have something at 11.”
He probably has tickets to see a movie, because that’s where we’re at now: tentpole films are scheduled years in advance. James Cameron recently revealed that Avatar 2 is scheduled for December 18, 2020, 11 years after the first one, followed by Avatar 3, Avatar 4, and Avatar 5 (!) in 2021, 2024, and 2025, respectively. Not to be outdone, Disney — which boasts the third highest-grossing worldwide movie ever, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, behind Cameron’s Titanic and Avatar — announced on Tuesday that Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled for May 24, 2019. It’s a slight surprise, considering The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were both December releases, but Disney probably doesn’t want to compete against itself: Your kids will demand you take them to see Frozen 2 on November 27, 2019.
Also on the schedule: Indiana Jones 5, which had its release date pushed back from July 19, 2019 (that’s when Jon Favreau’s The Lion King remake will now come out; also out in 2019: Toy Story 4 and Avengers: Infinity War, Part II — just accept that Disney owns you now), to July 10, 2020. Harrison Ford will be nearly 80 years old by then. That extra year is to make room for naps.
