Disney Delays Release Of Next Star Wars Movie

“Star Wars” fans will be spending another holiday with the Skywalkers.

Disney has delayed the release of the next Star Wars movie by around seven months. This is no bueno.

“Star Wars: Rogue One” is still on schedule for its December 16, 2016 release. Disney is obviously seeing $/£ signs here. On the plus side for fans, this gives incoming director Rian Johnson more time to finish the movie and really get it right.

With a December 2017 release date, this means Star Wars will have to compete directly against James Cameron’s Avatar 2 in the box office.

The decision came from Disney and Lucasfilm, which attribute the enormous success of Episode VII at the box-office with the delay of Episode VIII’s release. Even before the movie was released, Disney executives announced the follow-up movie would receive a May 2017 release date. Stay tuned for exciting updates in the coming weeks. Another blockbuster franchise is taking over the May 26, 2017, release date, with “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” now set to open on that date.

However, now Episode VIII could wind up facing the first sequel to Avatar – the movie The Force Awakens beat as the No. 1 domestic movie ever – if it comes out on December 25, 2017 as assumed.

Still in pre-production, filming is set to start next month in London with the stars we met in the most recent episode: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, and John Boyega.

According to Disney, the fifth installment of the popular franchise will see the return of the characters Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). The Sony and Marvel Studio Spider-Man reboot will also be rescheduled and claim the July 7, 2017 release. The sequel is helmed by European director/producer duo Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki), with Jerry Bruckheimer producing.