In a surprise to no one, Disney is delaying a trio of Star Wars movies that had previously been set for release as part of the Mouse House’s vast and intricate calendar.

  • The untitled Star Wars movie previously set for release on December 16, 2022 has been pushed to December 22, 2023.
  • The untitled Star Wars movie previously set for release on December 20, 2024 has been pushed to December 19, 2025.
  • And the untitled Star Wars movie previously set for release on December 18, 2026 has been delayed to December 17, 2027.

The delays are part of a larger shift being made to Disney’s overall release calendar due to the COVID-19 shutdown. It’s a game of dominos, and when you start shifting your big 2020 movies in 2021, everything else has to be shuffled back (including the Avatar sequels for the 17th time).

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Image via Lucasfilm

Disney and Lucasfilm had not previously disclosed what these specific Star Wars movies would be, and it’s possible they still don’t actually know. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger previously stated that the Star Wars films would be “taking a break” after the release of The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019, and after Lucasfilm took some heat for churning out Solo: A Star Wars Story so soon after The Last Jedi.

We do know that a number of Star Wars movies are in development, and are potential candidates to take these release dates. Most recently, Oscar-winning Thor: Ragnarok filmmaker Taika Waititi signed on to direct a new Star Wars movie that he’ll co-write with 1917 scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns. And in February of 2020, Sleight filmmaker J.D. Dillard signed on to direct a Star Wars movie, making him the first Black director to ever helm a Star Wars film should his project come to fruition.

There’s also an unspecified movie that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige hatched and is producing, and The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson may or may not still be developing his trilogy of films that he signed on to make after The Last Jedi was released. Previously, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were writing a new series of Star Wars movies that would reportedly explore the origins of the Jedi, but they exited the project over creative differences.

For a complete look at what movies are ahead, check out our 2020 and 2021 release calendars.