The unrelating adventure of the Star Wars saga will continue to own the holiday season. It’s been officially confirmed that the release date for the final installment in the new trilogy — Episode IX — will hit theaters on December 20, 2019. This is the second time the release date of Episode IX has been changed this year.
On Tuesday, following the announcement that J.J. Abrams will return to finish the trilogy he began with in 2015’s The Force Awakens, the Star Wars Twitter account revealed that the release date for the as-yet-untitled Episode IX will once again be scheduled to come out just before Christmas. Back in April, a big list of upcoming Disney releases through 2021 indicated that Episode IX had been moved to a summer release date, which was a change from its original winter date. But now, the release date has been switched back to winter again.
Famously, the original Star Wars — A New Hope — was scheduled for a December 1976 release date but was pushed back to the summer of 1977, which arguably created the summer blockbuster as we know it. All of the Star Wars prequels were also released in the month of May. Only since 2015’s launch of The Force Awakens have Star Wars films returned to their originally scheduled holiday season slot.
At present, the only future Star Wars movie not scheduled for a December release is the Han Solo movie, which, as of now, still has a May 25, 2018, release date.
The next new Star Wars film — The Last Jedi — will hit theaters on December 15.
