Star Wars Day: When is the next Star Wars movie?

On May 4, the world is on Marvel’s Avengers fever with millions still watching the Marvel heroes take on Thanos in their droves. 

A huge summer of blockbuster movies is sure to temper domination that Disney and Marvel are currently enjoying at the box office. 

However, today is a special day for certain cinephiles, May the Fourth be with you…Yes, it’s Star Wars Day. 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is still in the minds of fans, but what can they look forward to in the next year? 

When is the next Star Wars movie?

Luckily, fans will not have to wait long to enter a galaxy far, far away, as the next film in the franchise is only months away. 

Fans are patiently waiting for the spin-off release, Solo: A Star Wars Story, released May 25, to hit the big screen. 

Lucas Film and Disney have already agreed to commission a third trilogy in the Star Wars saga after episode 9 is released but in the meantime, we can look forward to a series of spin-off, standalone movies, exploring the rest of the galaxy. 

Solo will explore the origins of everyone’s favourite smuggler, Han Solo. Telling the humble beginnings of Harrison Ford’s iconic character will be Alden Ehrenreich, donning the goofy hair, black waistcoat and laser pistol.

The film is also set to star Donald Glover as playboy Lando Calrissian, as the two form a strong friendship that will shape the future of the Star Wars series. 

Set in his early years, Solo: A Star Wars Story will explore the dark criminal underworld of the Star Wars galaxy, as Solo meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion.

Blockbuster heavyweight Ron Howard is taking the reigns to direct the movie, having taken over from LEGO: Movie writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. 

A reportedly difficult films process resulted in the writing duo stepping down from directing duties, resulting in Howard’s appointment. 

Howard is no stranger to space, having directed 1995’s Apollo 13, but fans are eagerly waiting to see how this film will do.

Many were bemused when Solo was announced as the next spin-off movie, as part of Han Solo’s charm is his enigmatic and mysterious background, but since we won’t see another proper episode of the Star Wars trilogy until December 2019, it is no surprise Disney wanted to keep the Star Wars money-train moving. 

So far, including the eight currently released Star Wars triple-trilogy films, we have also had Star Wars: Rogue One, the first spin-off tale exploring how the Rebellion got the Death Star plans to help them win their battle in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).

As mentioned Lucas Film and Disney have already announced that Episode 8 director Rhian Johnson will direct another Star Wars trilogy after the release of J.J. Abrams’ 2019 film Star Wars Episode 9, which will is rumoured to be scheduled for 2021.

In between that time, fans can also expect a whole slew of secondary spin-off films, including the troubled Boba Fett movie. 

The bounty hunter movie has been in development hell since 2014 when it was announced that director Josh Trank would be directing what was then an unidentified Star Wars feature. 

Unfortunately, the world then saw a series of things go wrong in the making of Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot, and 11 months after his hiring he was fired by Lucasfilm. 

No official moves have been made since then, as the studios have been developing a number of other projects, but it is likely this will not be long in the making.