It’s good to plan ahead, and Disney respects that. That’s why you’ll want to make sure you keep an evening free in 2027 if you want to watch Avatar 5.
Yes, I know you haven’t seen Avatar 2, 3 and 4 yet. That’s because they’re coming out in 2021, 2023 and 2025. Unless they majorly flop, in which case you’d imagine Avatar 5 becoming a Disney ‘straight-to-DVD’ special, like Mulan 2 – the proud holder of a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
So other than learning that Avatar movies are like buses on a particularly neglected route, what else was revealed from Disney’s schedule? Well the company’s promise to leave off Star Wars for a bit only goes so far, with unnamed projects scheduled for 2022, 2024 and 2026.
Speaking of ex-Lucas projects, Disney also confirmed the long-delayed Indiana Jones movie – originally scheduled for a release this year – is in fact 793 days away, with an official release date of July 9 2021.
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Fans of big-screen superhero movies will be encouraged to see there are no fewer than eight Marvel slots – all of which are currently untitled, though one will be Guardians of the Galaxy 3. The first lands on May 1 2020, with another coming on November 6 the same year. After that, three more are pegged for both 2021 and 2022.
Pixar’s output during this period remains an almost total mystery. After Toy Story 4 and Onward, there are four untitled Pixar movies: one for June 19 2020, another almost exactly a year later on June 18 2021 and then two in 2022. It’s possible we’ll see a sequel or two in that mix.
Speaking of sequels, Disney is going big on those live-action remakes of classic movies. As well as Aladdin, The Lion King and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil for 2019, there’s Mulan and Cruella for 2020, and then eight untitled projects spread across 2021 and 2022. Given Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, The Jungle Book and 101 Dalmations have already gone, it’ll be interesting to see what long-forgotten relics Disney dredges up to fill all eight slots. Perhaps there’ll even be room for The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2.
Finally, as Disney now owns 21st Century Fox, there’s a few projects that feel weird to write, but are nonetheless now stablemates of Mickey Mouse. That means we’ll see both X-Men Mutants and a Kingsman prequel coming next year alongside an intriguing sounding debut for Bob’s Burgers.
You can read the full schedule here.