Leave it to James Cameron to create new rules. That’s the advantage of directing three of the four greatest films of all time at the worldwide box office – 2009 Avatar2022 Avatar: The Way of the Water and 1997 Titanic.
On Tuesday, Disney revealed that Cameron and his team needed more time to complete the next three installments of the hit franchise. The news wasn’t exactly a surprise, given that release date for the various Avatar the photos have already changed several times.
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most immediately, Avatar 3 is postponed by one year from December 20, 2024 to December 19, 2025.
While this decision is fairly normal, many in Hollywood cast circles couldn’t believe it when Disney revealed that the fourth Avatarwhich was set to debut in theaters on December 18, 2026, will instead be released on December 21, 2029, while Avatar 5originally slated for a December 22, 2028 release, is now dated December 19, 2031. Jokes started to fly, given that movies are rarely dated more than three or four years old, let alone more than eight years old, like in the matter of Avatar 5.
“I started emailing people asking what they were doing in 2031,” says a veteran distribution executive. “I told them, ‘Mark your calendars!'” Adds another distributor, “I didn’t even know what to say.”
Humor aside, building a release schedule is serious business in the arms race to grab the most desirable dates for franchise installments and other event fare. In addition to known movies, it’s also become common for a studio to date an untitled project before someone else claims a coveted weekend or vacation.
“If planning ahead is a sign of confidence in movie theaters, then studios have clearly gone all out to plant their flags in the sand for their highest profile, and in some cases as yet untitled, movies. big-screen releases,” says the box office analyst. Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore, who is the official recorder of schedule additions, as well as any changes.
THE Avatar The lineup was one of many high-profile changes Disney made to its schedule as the studio upped the stakes in terms of how and when it dates future movies, or reveals major course corrections.
Disney and Lucasfilm did not have a star wars feature film in theaters since 2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. During Star Wars Celebration in April, Lucasfilm teased a feature film starring Daisy Ridley, another of The Mandalorian’s Dave Filoni and one by James Mangold that will take place thousands of years earlier in the timeline. On Tuesday, Lucasfilm moved a previously dated December 2025 Star Wars movie to May 22, 2026. Ridley’s feature is the furthest along in development and is set to open on that date. And Lucasfilm revealed in Tuesday’s announcement that it has added a new star wars feature for only five months later: December 18, 2026. (Another star wars the film remains on its current date of December 17, 2027, so it was not mentioned in the announcement).
From Marvel Studios, Avengers: Kang Dynasty has been pushed back a year to May 1, 2026. The feature has beleaguered actor Jonathan Majors, who is facing assault charges in New York, tied in the lead role. The follow-up, Avengers: Secret Warshas also been pushed back a year, to May 7, 2027.
Disney is the first major Hollywood studio to date films for 2027 and beyond. But it might not be long before another studio joins the party.
Dergarabedian remarks: “In an extended time frame that will see potential moviegoers transition from college to university while waiting Avatar 5the outing calendar chessboard is already filling up.
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