Disney Announces A Surprising Release Date For ‘Star Wars: Episode IX,’ Pushes Back ‘Indiana Jones 5’

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.

×