Disney Announces Its Slate Through 2021

In the wake of Fox dishing out loads of release dates for upcoming films over the weekend, Disney is now following suit. The juggernaut studio announced dates and/or shifted the releases of about a dozens films today, primarily focused within the 2019-2021 slates. Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, Disney Animation, the fairy tales reboots, etc. That gang’s all here in full force. Of the dates locked in, the biggest dates are official slots for Star Wars: Episode IX and Frozen 2, plus a new date for Indiana Jones 5.

All titles in bold either finally have official release dates or have moved from previously announce dates…

February 15th, 2018 – BLACK PANTHER
March 9th, 2018 – A WRINKLE IN TIME
April 6th, 2018 – MAGIC CAMP
May 4th, 2018 – AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
May 25th, 2018 – UNTITLED HAN SOLO STAR WARS STORY FILM
June 15th, 2018 – THE INCREDIBLES 2
July 6th, 2018 – ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
August 3rd, 2018 – Undetermined Disney Fairy Tale Film
November 2nd, 2018 – MULAN
November 21st, 2018 – RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK-IT RALPH 2
December 25th, 2018 – MARY POPPINS RETURNS
March 3rd, 2019 – CAPTAIN MARVEL
March 29th, 2019 – Undetermined Disney Fairy Tale Film
April 12th, 2019 – Undetermined Disney Animation Film
May 3rd, 2019 – AVENGERS 4
May 24th, 2019 – STAR WARS: EPISODE IX
June 21st, 2019 – TOY STORY 4
July 5th, 2019 – UNTITLED SPIDER-MAN FILM (distributed by Sony)
July 19th, 2019 – THE LION KING
August 9th, 2019 – Undetermined Disney Live Action Film
November 11th , 2019 – Undetermined Disney Fairy Tale Film
November 27th, 2019 – FROZEN 2
December 20th, 2019 – Undetermined Disney Fairy Tale Film
March 13th, 2020 – Undetermined Pixar Film
April 3rd, 2020 – Undetermined Disney Live Action Film
May 1st, 2020 – Undetermined Marvel FIlm
June 19th, 2020 – Undetermined Pixar Film
July 10th, 2020 – INDIANA JONES 5
August 7th, 2020 – Undetermined Marvel Film
November 6th, 2020 – Undetermined Marvel Film
November 25th, 2020 – GIGANTIC
March 12th, 2021 – Undetermined Disney Live Action Film
June 18th, 2021 – Undetermined Pixar Film
November 24th, 2021 – Undetermined Disney Animation Film

So what’s changed? A few of these have shifted about Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time adaptation now takes the slot previously vacated by Wreck-It Ralph 2, which itself has been pushed to a Thanksgiving release. The live action comedy Magic Camp has been moved up in 2018 from August to April. Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX has officially been dated for May 2019, which was very much expected.

Jon Favreau’s live action redo of The Lion King has scooped up a cushy Summer 2019 release, taking the spot previously occupied by Indiana Jones 5. So where has Indy gone? He’s moved back a year. This too isn’t much of a shock. By the time Steven Spielberg is ready to make the project, he’ll have directed a whopping 5 films back-to-back. Between likely needing a bit of a break and the looming WGA strike, Indy shuffling back an extra year makes sense. Gigantic has also been pushed to 2020 after having its slot occupied by Wreck-It Ralph 2, be it due to the strike or not being developed enough yet or a combination of both.

On the Marvel front, we have three 2020 dates up for grabs. Following previous patterns, I would almost be willing to bet money that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 takes the May 1st date and Doctor Strange 2 snags the November 6th one. That leaves the August 7th date open, likely to be filled by an inaugural solo film of some kind. Whether that ends up being for an entirely new character or an existing one finally getting their own feature (Black Widow?) is anyone’s guess.

We still have 4 slots being reserved for live action fairy tale features. These could end up being occupied by any number of such films in development. That said, if I were to guess, those slots will go to Alex Timbers’ Cruella, Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin, and David Lowery’s Peter Pan. In what order, I do not know, but those appear to be the ones closest to getting made at this point.

The undetermined live action films are harder to pin down, because they could end up being any number or type of projects. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Disenchanted, the sequel to 2007’s Enchanted, takes that August 2019 slot. Unless, of course, it is being counted as one of the fairy tale features, in which case it’s just throwing my whole prediction system off!

Lastly, if you’re curious about the House of Mouse’s slate for the rest of this year, it is as follows…

May 5th, 2017 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
May 26th, 2017 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
June 16th, 2017 – Cars 3
November 3rd, 2017 – Thor: Ragnarok
November 22nd, 2017 – Coco
December 15th, 2017 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi