Yesterday, during a Disney earnings call, Bob Iger and the company made a handful of announcements such as confirming release dates and windows for various upcoming films, mostly for sequels including Frozen 3, Toy Story 5, Moana 2 and Zootopia 2. Within the bevy of announcements, Iger shared a brief (and I mean brief) update on the recently announced Star Wars theatrical film, The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Iger reiterated something that was first revealed in The Mandalorian and Grogu announcement from last month, the film set to be directed by Jon Favreau, will lead the Star Wars film slate. Currently there’s three Star Wars dates on the Disney calendar – May 22nd 2026, December 18th 2026 and December 17th 2027. Lucasfilm or Disney have not pubcily committed to what Star Wars project will release on what date. However, given that Iger and the initial announcement of The Mandalorian and Grogu claimed it would lead their film slate, you’d assume that Mando and Grogu would take the May 2026 window.
I must mention that I personally did not listen to the call, so I don’t know what Iger’s exact wording was, but that a 2026 release and it’ll lead the slate was said. In an X post from The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit, a respected journalist who was listening in, shared that the film will likely release in 2026.
Disney later followed up the call with an updated release calendar for the public. Three Star Wars dates (May 2026, December 2026, December 2027) are all still on the calendar and all sport the Untitled Star Wars name, meaning no date was given to the film that’s set to lead the film slate, The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Disney and Lucasfilm seemingly continue to remain non-committal as to which Star Wars film will take what date, something they’ve been doing since the three release dates were announced in June of 2023. The Mandalorian and Grogu announcement mentioned three other Star Wars films that are in active development and due to be part of Lucasfilm’s theatrical slate, a Rey Skywalker film from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Dave Filoni’s Mandalorian crossover event film and an origins of the Jedi movie from James Mangold.
Elsewhere during the call, unrelated to the Star Wars film, Bob Iger announced a collaboration with Epic Games. The announcement revealed that the two companies will collaborate on “all-new games” and “entertainment universes.” Disney also acquired a stake within Epic Games for $1.5 billion. Disney shared additional details which you can read below.
“In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine.”
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