Star Wars & Avatar Franchise Films Pushed Back
In a developing story, the Walt Disney Company has shuffled its studio release schedule resulting in the delay of Star Wars and Avatar franchise films.
A trio of “Star Wars” movies will debut around Christmas every year starting in 2023. The first of three films will launch on Dec. 22, 2023 and two follow-ups will hit theaters Dec. 19, 2025, and Dec. 17, 2027.
Meanwhile, James Cameron’s long-delayed follow-ups to Avatar” will now be released every other December starting in 2022 as follows: “Avatar 2” (Dec. 16, 2022), “Avatar 3” (Dec. 20, 2024), “Avatar 4” (Dec. 18, 2026) and “Avatar 5” (Dec. 22, 2028).
The news comes as part of a huge shift in release dates unveiled by Disney. The studio is moving around the debuts of numerous movies as cinemas remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cameron Comments On Delay
Avatar creator James Cameron posted on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CC_8cvDpQgw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“There is no one more disappointed about this delay than me,” said Cameron in a statement. “But I am buoyed by the incredible performances of our cast and the extraordinary work that Weta Digital is doing bringing the world of Pandora and the characters of the film to life.”
Given the updates from Cameron and from Disney (surrounding the delay of Mulan), it would make sense to hear from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy in the near future (and perhaps with an official video update, as the news came out after This Week! In Star Wars).
We were expecting new news about the franchise this summer during the now canceled in-person SDCC and Star Wars Celebration events.
However, as Corey Van Dyke of Kessel Run Transmissions tweeted, “The future of Star Wars is definitely on Disney+.”
To which he added:
https://twitter.com/Corey_WolfPack/status/1286414171664519168?s=20
Which, from this fan’s standpoint is okay, and gives the talented creators in charge of the film franchise the proper time and space to succeed.
I’ll update this story if there are any extra details this evening….
