Disney Schedules Two ‘Star Wars’ Movies For 2026

“Star Wars” fans are starting to get an idea about when they can return to the theater.

The last “Star Wars” movie shown in theaters was back in 2019 when “The Rise of Skywalker” wrapped up the nine-episode Skywalker Saga. After several canceled projects, Lucasfilm announced that three new “Star Wars” movies were in development, including one led by Daisy Ridley, who will be making her return as Rey.

Although there was an untitled “Star Wars” movie on the Disney release calendar for 2025, it looks like two films will premiere in 2026.

On Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Disney’s theatrical release calendar has faced some major changes. Although “Avatar 3” was supposed to come out in December 2024, it has now been rescheduled to December 2025, which might have prompted the decision to push December 2025’s “Star Wars” movie back to 2026.

“Avatar 4” has been rescheduled to come out in December 2029 and “Avatar 5” has been rescheduled to come out in December 2031, over a decade from when the 2009 science-fiction epic first hit theaters. Several Marvel films have also been pushed back.

“Avengers: Kang Dynasty” has been rescheduled to May 1, 2016, while “Avengers: Secret Wars” has been delayed to May 7, 2027. The next installment in the “Alien” franchise from 20th Century is expected to be released on August 16, 2024.

It is unclear which “Star Wars” movies are going to be released in 2026. The 2025 “Star Wars” movie has been rescheduled to May 22, 2026, but it is not clear what movie that is. Considering that Ridley is working on a host of other projects and that seems to be the furthest in development, it is likely that Ridley’s “Star Wars” film will be released on that date.

However, there is another “Star Wars” film scheduled for release on December 18, 2026, only five months after the first film. Considering Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy previously said that she wanted to “eventise” Star Wars films for the next generation, it is possible that one of the films will be pushed back to a new date.

The upcoming film starring Daisy Ridley will be directed by “Ms. Marvel” filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and focus on Rey trying to rebuild the Jedi Order fifteen years after the events of "The Rise of Skywalker."

The movie was originally supposed to be written by “Lost” creator Damon Lindelof and “The Strain” writer Justin Britt-Gibson; however, they were “asked to leave” the project only days after turning in their completed script. “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight will now be creating the script.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly after Star Wars Celebration London, Kathleen Kennedy teased the plot of the movie. “As we move into the future space — this story is about 15 years outside of The Rise of Skywalker — obviously we realized post-war, post–First Order rise of the New Jedi Order, we left episode 9 with Rey making a commitment to Luke Skywalker that she would rebuild the Jedi Order,” Kennedy said.

“And so here we are — we’re ready to do that. And it took a lot of discussion because obviously we’ve been developing stories in different spaces, and television has been a big focus of our attention right now,” she continued. “But there’s still so much interest in what happens after The Rise of Skywalker. So we’re excited to be doing that.”

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold will be creating a "Biblical epic" that will give fans a look at the origin story of the Force. This project is reportedly set about 25,000 years before the events of the prequel trilogy.

“When I first started talking to Kathy about doing one of these pictures, what occurred to me was thinking about what kind of genre of movie within Star Wars I wanted to do,” he said via The Hollywood Reporter. “And I thought about a Biblical epic, like a Ten Commandments, about the dawning of the Force. Where did the Force come from, when did we discover it, when did we learn how to use it?”

Creative boss Dave Filoni will also be directing a new movie within the New Republic era to tie together the events set in “The Mandalorian” timeline. Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly on their Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch, to talk about Filoni’s movie, which is set after the events of “Return of the Jedi.”

When asked if the characters featured in his new movie will be similar to an Avengers-style meet-up, Filoni replied, “We’re in the right area code,” adding, “We are definitely in the right space. I think it’s going to be a clamoring of characters saying, ‘How do I get in this picture?’ And that’s what Jon and I have been figuring out.”

“As we are getting deeper and deeper into this, you start to have to really map things out and figure out what that story is, and then have those characters fulfill what their growth cycle is and what their mythic hero’s journey is,” Favreau added. “Those things have to fit together well. Otherwise, it won’t feel like Star Wars.”

At this time, it is unclear what "Star Wars" movie is scheduled for May 2026 or December 2026; however, it is worth noting that these dates are tentative and it is possible that they will be rescheduled.