Disney delays next 'Avatar,' 'Avengers,' and 'Star Wars' films

The wait for some of Disney's most anticipated films just got even longer.

Disney has announced significant changes to its release schedule, delaying many upcoming movies. For one, the next "Avatar" sequel has been pushed back a year, moving from December 2024 to December 2025. "Avatar 4" was also delayed three years to December 2029, and "Avatar 5" is now scheduled for December 2031.

"Each 'Avatar' film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for and audiences have come to expect," producer Jon Landau tweeted.

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Moving to Marvel, the next two "Avengers" films were both delayed a year. "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" is now scheduled for May 2026, while "Avengers: Secret Wars" is slated for May 2027. This will give Marvel more time to figure out how it will deal with the fact that Jonathan Majors, who plays Kang, has been facing domestic violence allegations, which he denies. "Captain America: Brave New World" was also delayed to July 2024, while "Thunderbolts" was pushed to December 2024, "Blade" was moved to February 2025, and "Fantastic Four" was delayed to May 2025.

Meanwhile, the next "Star Wars" movie, which will mark the franchise's return to theaters for the first time since 2019, was delayed from December 2025 to May 2026. But another "Star Wars" movie was scheduled for December 2026, so this will be Disney's first time releasing two "Star Wars" films in one calendar year. Lucasfilm recently announced three new movies in the franchise, though it's not clear which one will release when.

In other news, Disney said its live-action remake of "Moana" will be released in June 2025, and an "Alien" movie was scheduled for August 2024. According to Deadline, many of these delays are due to the ongoing writers' strike, which has shut down film and TV productions. Some movies and shows, though, have proceeded with filming, including "Deadpool 3," which Disney announced will actually be coming out sooner than expected. That film was moved up from November 2024 to May 2024.