Disney just announced a slew of release dates for their upcoming films, and included in the list is the Star Wars: Episode IX release date. While Disney had dated all of their Star Wars films through the upcoming, untitled Han Solo film, which is slated to drop on May 25, 2018, everything beyond that was unknown. Would Disney stick to the summer or return to Christmas season where they had so much success with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? Today, we have the answer.

Disney has set Star Wars: Episode IX for release on May 24, 2019. The only other films currently set for that date are Minecraft and Universal’s untitled Doctor Dolittle movie, but you can bet that they’re both going to get the hell out of Dodge to make way for the Star Wars behemoth.

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Image via Lucasfilm

While I has speculated that Disney might move Han Solo and Episode IX into the Christmas season now that the Avatar sequels had cleared out until 2020, it looks like the studio is far more comfortable moving their Star Wars films to the Memorial Day weekend rather than camping out in December. And that does make some degree of sense. Star Wars started out with Memorial Day, and it also allows the studio to double-up on profiting from the film. They get to sell a bunch of merchandise right before Star Wars opens in May, and then they get to sell more merchandise around the holidays.

Additionally, Disney is ensuring that fans never have to go more than a year without a Star Wars film. If the untitled Han Solo film sticks to May 25, 2018, then right now it shakes out that we get Star Wars: The Last Jedi this December, Han Solo five months later, and then Episode IX one year after that. It will be interesting to see if Disney can continue to keep up the pace.

Few details are known about what the plot of Star Wars: Episode IX will entail. We know that Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson penned a treatment for the film, and he’s been working closely with director Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World), who will helm the ninth installment in the Star Wars saga. Beyond that, everything is pretty much a question mark as fans look ahead to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is due out on December 15, 2017.

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Image via Disney/Lucasfilm
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Image via Disney/Lucasfilm
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Image via Lucasfilm