To be a fan of Disney franchises is to deal with delays, but these days they’ve mostly been confined to the MCU, where movies like Captain America: Brave New World and Blade have undergone multiple release date changes. Star Wars has been focusing on television, so that universe has mostly been spared from scheduling drama... until now.
In 2023, Disney announced three new Star Wars movies: a Rey-focused sequel directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a “Dawn of the Jedi” prequel directed by James Mangold, and a TV crossover movie directed by Dave Filoni. One of these movies — presumedly Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey sequel, though that wasn’t confirmed — was slated for December 18, 2026, on Disney’s calendar.
However, Variety reports Disney has since removed that release date from the calendar, instead placing Ice Age 6 in the slot. But don’t fret; 2026 will still bring Star Wars to theaters.
Moving this unspecified release date from 2026 is probably a smart move for Lucasfilm, as there’s already a filmed Star Wars movie set for that year. The Mandalorian & Grogu, Jon Favreau’s theatrical follow-up to The Mandalorian, will be released in May of 2026. By 2026, seven years will have passed without a Star Wars movie. Going from none to two in a single year would cause some whiplash, even by the standards of Star Wars’ erratic release schedule.
Given the recent announcement that Simon Kinberg will helm a trilogy of movies that will reportedly also feature Rey, the future of Obaid-Chinoy’s movie has been in doubt, especially since screenwriter Steven Knight left the project in October. But Daisy Ridley reassured fans during a recent podcast appearance, saying an update was “imminent” and teasing that she “might have already seen something.”
With so many projects in the fire, from Kinberg’s trilogy to the Lando movie to the apparently-revived Rogue Squadron adventure, it feels like the future of Star Wars movies is all over the place. But to borrow from Dune, Lucasfilm measures its plans in decades. Writers can come and go, release dates can be moved and shifted, and the final product can still see the light of day... and hopefully be good, too. Either way, 2026 will finally bring Star Wars back to the silver screen.
