Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Disney, Marvel Studios, Movies, Star Wars | Tagged: 20th century studios, disney, lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, star wars

Disney Shifts Release Schedule: Marvel Delays, Star Wars Gets Dates

Disney has shifted a bunch of release dates including delaying several Marvel films, dated two Star Wars film, and delaying the next three Avatar films.

Published Tue, 13 Jun 2023 11:07:12 -0500

by Kaitlyn Booth

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We might have our first release schedule fallout from the Writer's Strike, which comes in the form of Disney making some significant moves today. The studio, which is releasing two massive movies this month alone in the form of Elemental and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, has had to pause production on several films due to the strike, and these shifting release dates could have something to do with that. Then again, the films we know were shut down were Marvel films, so let's start there. The Hollywood Reporter has shared the massive shift in the schedule, mostly delays.

Disney Suspends Film Production Due to Coronavirus — Credit Disney

Disney Has Shifted A Bunch Of Movies

Deadpool 3, a film that managed to enter production during the strike, has been moved up from November 8, 2024, to May 3, 2024. Disney and Marvel Studios are also shifting the next two Avengers films. We know that things are a little weird right now, considering the serious allegations against Jonathan Majors, so maybe they are waiting to see how that will play out. The first new Avengers film, Avengers: Kang Dynasty, has moved one year to May 1, 2026. That means that Avengers: Secret Wars has also been pushed back a year to May 7, 2027. Some more delays include moving Captain America: New World Order back to July 26, 2024, from May 3, 2024. Thunderbolts and Blade have been delayed five months and moved from July 26, 2024, to December 20, 2024, and September 6, 2024, to February 14, 2025, respectively. Finally, Fantastic Four has also been delayed moving from February 14, 2025, to May 2, 2025, so the long casting rumor hell can continue.

Lucasfilm, who has been largely absent from theaters and made some seriously big moves on streaming, is returning to the big screen this month but has also dated new Star Wars movies. We learned in April that three new Star Wars films are in development on top of the one that Taika Waititi is also working on. They seem to be rolling the dice on films and giving some release dates. Disney is also doing something very strange: releasing them close together, dated two unknown Star Wars features for May 22, 2026, and December 18, 2026. Perhaps one of those is Dave Filoni's film, and certain shows need to come out before it can be released, and it's something that has to come out at a certain time? Who knows, but the last time we had Star Wars close together, the movie that got the short end of the stick was the second film [even if there was some 2018 box office brain rot going on there].

20th Century Studios might be the golden child of Disney right now, considering how well Avatar: The Way of Water did at the box office. You would think that would mean that they would want those films to come out right away so they can cash in on the hype from this sequel, but maybe they realize that the wait might be half of the hype regarding Avatar. So Avatar 3 has moved a year from December 2024 to December 2025, pushing back the last two movies meaning that Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 will hit theaters in December 2029 and December 2031, respectively. They also dated a new Alien movie for next year but August 16, 2024, is a weird time to release an Alien film. They also dated a new movie called The Amateur.

In terms of animated releases, there wasn't any word about delays or release date shifts at Walt Disney Animation or Pixar. Perhaps that will change later this month when we see how Elemental does at the box office. The live action Moana film has also been dated for June 27, 2025. Here is the full list of changes from the press release from Disney:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (Disney) previously dated on 5/3/24 moves to 7/26/24
THUNDERBOLTS (Disney) previously dated on 7/26/24 moves to 12/20/24
UNTITLED ALIEN EVENT MOVIE (20th) is the updated title of UNTITLED DISNEY dated on 8/16/24
BLADE (Disney) previously dated on 9/6/24 moves to 2/14/25
UNTITLED DISNEY is now dated on 9/6/24
UNTITLED DEADPOOL MOVIE (Disney) previously dated on 11/8/24 moves to 5/3/24
THE AMATEUR (20th) is now dated on 11/8/24
AVATAR 3 (20th) previously dated on 12/20/24 moves to 12/19/25
FANTASTIC FOUR (Disney) previously dated on 2/14/25 moves to 5/2/25
UNTITLED DISNEY previously dated on 4/11/25 moves to 3/21/25
AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY (Disney) previously dated on 5/2/25 moves to 5/1/26
MOANA (Disney) is the updated title of UNTITLED DISNEY previously dated on 7/2/25, and moves to 6/27/25
UNTITLED DISNEY is the updated title of UNTITLED MARVEL dated on 7/25/25
UNTITLED DISNEY previously dated on 8/15/25 moves to 8/8/25
UNTITLED DISNEY is the updated title of UNTITLED MARVEL dated on 11/7/25
UNTITLED STAR WARS (Disney) previously dated on 12/19/25 moves to 5/22/26
UNTITLED DISNEY dated on 5/22/26 is removed from schedule
AVENGERS: SECRET WARS (Disney) previously dated 5/1/26 is now dated on 5/7/27
UNTITLED STAR WARS (Disney) is now dated 12/18/26
AVATAR 4 (20th) previously dated on 12/18/26 moves to 12/21/29
AVATAR 5 (20th) previously dated on 12/22/28 moves to 12/19/31