Disney has significantly reshuffled its theatrical release calendar, pushing the release dates of virtually all of its upcoming Marvel films and “Avatar 3” forward, in some cases by up to a year. The studio has, however, set release dates for two new ‘Star Wars’ movies.
“Captain America: Brave New World”, “Thunderbolts”, “Blade”, “Fantastic Four”, the upcoming “Avengers” films and “Avatar 3” were all rejected. “Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts” were moved to late 2024, and “Blade” and “Fantastic Four” were moved to later 2025. James Cameron’s “Avatar 3” was moved from December 2024 to December 2025 The fifth and final “Avatar” film now doesn’t hit theaters until 2031. The third untitled “Deadpool” film is one of the rare Marvel films that is actually moving up the release calendar. It will now open on May 3, 2024, up from a previous release in November.
Several of these films were affected by the Writers Guild of America strike, with “Blade” among those being put on hold indefinitely until the strike was complete.
Other films moved on the calendar include the live-action “Moana,” which will now be released on June 27, 2025, up slightly from July 2, 2025. The two untitled and unspecified “Star Wars” films will each be released in 2026, one in end of May and the other in December. Fede Alvarez’s upcoming film “Alien” will now be released on August 6, 2024.
While it’s unclear what “Star Wars” films are, Lucasfilm previously announced the upcoming film titles in its slate at this year’s Star Wars Celebration event, including films directed by James Mangold and the longtime TV guru by “Star Wars” Dave Filoni. There’s also Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s previously announced film, which will see the return of Daisy Ridley to the franchise as her character Rey of hers.
The current phase of the MCU now won’t conclude until May 7, 2027, which is the new ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ release date. It will be a year separate from ‘Avengers: Kang Dynasty’, which hits theaters in 2026. The studio is also still grappling with what to do with star Jonathan Majors as Kang after the actor’s arrest at the start of this year.
And the “Avatar” franchise, once slated to wrap by 2028, now won’t be finished until 2031. The third film has largely been filmed, and Cameron has previously said that the fourth and fifth films mapped out (although they have yet to officially give the green light). “Avatar: The Way of Water” grossed $2.32 billion globally.
