Disney releases Avatar 2 date and announces new Star Wars films

By Chris Robertson, news reporter

Disney has announced that fans will have to wait a little longer for the next Avatar film after pushing it back by a year – while Star Wars fans will be able to enjoy three more instalments from 2022.

Giving an update to its next film releases following the company’s purchase of Fox, Disney said the long-awaited follow up to Avatar, which is currently the highest grossing film ever, will be released in December 2021 – a year later than originally thought.

It means fans will have waited 12 years since the original film that smashed box office records around the world.

They also revealed that another three instalments of the Avatar franchise will be released all the way through into 2027.

Disney has already given Avatar fans a taste of what’s to come after opening a huge land named Pandora at their Animal Kingdom park in Orlando, inspired by the films.

The company also gave some very early details about the next Star Wars films – which will hit screens in 2022, 2024 and 2026.

No word yet on the content of the new Star Wars movies, or whether they’ll be part of a trilogy or stand-alone stories.

The announcement comes after Disney previously said they would stop production of Star Wars films after the conclusion of the original Skywalker Saga in December.

There’s also a new Harrison Ford film, Call Of The Wild, coming next year, and a movie version of the show Bob’s Burgers next July.

Other films slated for release by Disney include a new adaptation of the iconic musical West Side Story, which will be directed by Steven Spielberg, and a movie about 101 Dalmatians villain Cruella De Vil, called Cruella – both in 2020.

The updated list also features a huge raft of “untitled” films from Disney, Pixar and Marvel.

Hitting screens soon:

:: Avatar 2 – 17 December 2021

:: Untitled Star Wars film – 16 December 2022

:: Avatar 3 – 22 December 2023

:: Untitled Star Wars film – 20 December 2024

:: Avatar 4 – 19 December 2025

:: Untitled Star Wars Film – 18 December 2026

:: Avatar 5 – 17 December 2027

It has been a big year for the company so far: as well as their acquisition of Fox film studios, Disney has announced a new streaming service which aims to rival Netflix and Amazon Prime and is arriving in November, and the imminent opening of Star Wars lands at their theme parks in Orlando and Los Angeles.

Live-action remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King are also on their way over the next few months, as well as Toy Story 4 and the highly-anticipated Frozen 2.

The studio have also released the biggest film of the year so far in Avengers: Endgame, which has overtaken Titanic as the second-highest grossing film of all time.

Endgame has also had the biggest box office opening of all time, according to its Twitter feed.