'Star Wars Episode 9' Trailer Release Date and Title Could Arrive This Week

Star Wars: Episode IX may be light-years away, but we could be getting a huge update on the final film in the sequels trilogy very soon. There’s reason to believe the first trailer for Episode IX could drop as soon as this week, and that means we’ll also finally learn the title of the upcoming Star Wars movie.

Here’s why you can expect a Star Wars: Episode IX trailer by the end of the week, and the various reasons it could release on either Wednesday or Thursday in particular.

Why the Star Wars: Episode IX Trailer Could Drop on Dec. 19

The one thing pretty much everyone seems to agree in is that Disney/Lucasfilm will release the trailer for Episode IX before the end of the year. Considering that new trailers are often tied to the release of other new movies, it makes sense that Disney would debut our first look at the next Star Wars film with its biggest release of December. In this case, that’s Mary Poppins Returns, which hits theaters on Wednesday, December 19.

Of course, the overlap between fans of Mary Poppins and Star Wars isn’t exactly ideal, which makes us think Disney might use the opportunity to debut another trailer instead. The most likely culprit? Frozen 2, which is also due for a trailer ahead of its November 22, 2019 release date.

Why the Star Wars: Episode IX Trailer Could Drop on Dec. 20

If December 19 is a maybe, December 20 is a lot more likely for one simple reason: It’s exactly one year ahead of the movie’s actual release. That’s the kind of symmetry Star Wars is all about, and it would essentially kick off a full year of non-stop Episode IX hype as we race towards the thrilling finale to the Skywalker saga.

The only issue here is that there’s no big Disney movie coming out on Thursday — and no planned Star Wars event where this kind of reveal might make sense. So unless the studio plans to treat Aquaman fans to a teaser for Episode IX, the trailer might not drop on December 20 either, though we still won’t be surprised if it does.

The Case for Christmas

This would pretty much buck all the Hollywood “rules” for releasing new trailers, but at this point, Disney clearly knows it can do whatever it wants. Combine that with the fact that the new Lion King trailer just so happened to arrive on Thanksgiving evening while everyone was home and feeling nostalgic and a possible pattern starts to emerge.

After all, Disney has already conditioned fans to expect new Star Wars movie each December. So with nothing coming for another full year, why not release the Episode IX trailer right when we’re all primed to see some lightsaber action?

Of course, that would mean waiting one more week for the trailer, but with a full year to go before the actual movie hits theaters, that’s really the least of our worries.

Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, 2019.

Related video: 9 Possible Titles for Star Wars: Episode IX.