Disney Upcoming World Domination -- Now with Release Dates
Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 4:00PM by Nathaniel R
After Disney's acquisition of Fox, the Mouse House stands to control an ungodly percentage of the movie business (40%... what is the number exactly?) Today they released their schedule for the next few years, albeit a vague one since many of the movies are untitled. Several things become clear despite the lack of specifics: First, Disney hopes to maintain the luster of Star Wars by abandoning the overselling we've seen these past few years (which have taken a noticeable toll with diminishing box office) and releasing one only every other year, alternating them with Avatar pictures. Meanwhile Disney Animation, Pixar, and Marvel Studios will basically maintain their current clips of two to three titles each per year. The more distressing thing that appears to be the case if you look at this schedule is that Disney seems to be burning off the Fox properties but must have abandoned anything in the pipeline that isn't finished already save for animated features since they take so long to make and Steven Spielberg's West Side Story which starts filming very soon. Apparently the only reason Disney wanted Fox was for the Avatar franchise?
You can see the schedule after the jump...
SUMMER 2019
- 05/24 Aladdin
- 06/07 Dark Phoenix
- 06/21 Toy Story 4
- 07/12 Stuber
- 07/19 The Lion King
- 08/09 The Art of Racing in the Rain (one of those narrating dog movies. Kevin Costner is the dog)
- 08/23 Ad Astra (This James Gray sci-fi film starring Brad Pitt was originally slated for the end of May but visual effects weren't done in time for its anticipated Cannes bow)
FALL 2019
- 10/04 The Woman in the Window (Joe Wright directs Amy Adams in an Oscar hopeful thriller about an agoraphic woman)
- 10/18 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning return with Michelle Pfeiffer joining them this time around)
- 11/15 Ford v Ferrari (A slew of male stars in a period piece true story about car racing wars)
- 11/22 Frozen 2 (animated)
- 12/20 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (the final chapter with Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren and a bit of General Leia archival footage)
- 12/25 Spies in Disguise (animated)
2020
- 1/10 Underwater (action thriller with Kristen Stewart)
- 2/14 Kingsman 3
- 2/21 Call of the Wild
- 3/6 Onward (Pixar movie about teenage elf brothers with Tom Holland and Chris Pratt doing the voices)
- 3/27 Mulan (another Disney live-action remake)
- 4/3 New Mutants (Pushed back yet again. It was shot in the summer of 2017 with a trailer released as early as October 2017 with an early 2018 release date. It was later rescheduled to February 2019 and then and August 2019. You'd think Disney would want to burn off the Fox X-titles as soon as possible so they could put them on ice for a few years and reboot? Strange choice to delay this troubled production yet again)
- 5/1 Untitled Marvel (Most people believe this will be the Black Widow solo film with Scarlett Johansson taking another final bow for her work across so many pictures, since her co-stars have already signed on)
- 5/29 Artemis Fowl
- 6/19 Untitled Pixar
- 7/3 Free Guy
- 7/17 Bob's Burgers
- 7/24 Jungle Cruise
- 8/14 The One and Only Ivan
- 10/9 Death on the Nile (Kenneth Branagh's follow up to Murder on the Orient Express.
- 11/6 Untitled Marvel (Most people believe this will be The Eternals starring Angelina Jolie since it's already in the casting phase. It's worth noting that Marvel is only doing two pictures in 2020. Perhaps they're wise to give the audience a slight breather at least following the mega-blast of superpowered folks in 2019)
- 11/6 Ron's Gone Wrong (Animated)
- 11/25 Untitled Disney (Animated)
- 12/18 West Side Story (Steven Spielberg's remake of the 1961 musical blockbuster is surely hoping for both major coin and Oscar statues)
- 12/23 Cruella (Yet another of Disney's live-action riffs on its animated catalogue. Emma Stone stars)
2021
- 2/12 Untitled Marvel (Doctor Strange 2???)
- 3/5 Nimona (Animated based on a brilliant webcomic)
- 3/12 Untitled Disney (Live-Action)
- 5/7 Untitled Marvel (Shang-Chi ???)
- 5/28 Untitled Disney (Live-Action)
- 6/18 Untitled Pixar
- 7/9 Untitled Indiana Jones
- 7/30 Untitled Disney (Live-Action)
- 10/8 Untitled Disney (Live-Action)
- 11/5 Untitled Marvel (Black Panther 2?)
- 11/24 Untitled Disney (Animated)
- 12/17 Avatar 2 (James Cameron is no stranger to picking up a franchise years after a first outing - see Terminator 2 and Aliens but 12 years is really a long break. We'll see how it all turns out in another couple of years but as Cameron devotees -- no one does action sequences better -- we're praying that it's a blast.)
2022
- 2/18 Untitled Marvel
- 3/18 Untitled Pixar
- 5/6 Untitled Marvel
- 5/27 Untitled Disney (Live-Action)
- 6/17 Untitled Pixar
- 7/8 Untitled Disney (Live Action)
- 7/29 Untitled Marvel
- 10/7 Untitled Disney (Live Action)
- 11/4 Untitled Disney (Live Action)
- 11/23 Untitled Disney (Animated)
- 12/16 Untitled Star Wars
No word yet on which Marvel sequels these might be but we assume we'll get another Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, and Spider-Man by this time frame, if not sooner. Also how long will it be before Disney runs out of animated titles to reboot as live-action or "live-action" animation (lol) movies? I mean they're obviously going to stop before reaching Song of the South or Three Caballeros, you know?
2023
- 2/17 Untitled Disney (Live Action)
- 12/22 Avatar 3
2024
- 12/20 Untitled Star Wars
2025
- 12/19 Avatar 4
2026
- 12/18 Untitled Star Wars
2027
- 12/17 Avatar 5
What do you make of this and do you think Disney will continue to do at least some adult dramas like Fox did... or will it be all family-friendly franchises?
Reader Comments (12)
I hope that with all that money they will take some risks with interesting dramas. It's weird that they don't own Wicked.
I just hope Cameron was smart enough to give Sigourney an Oscar-calibre dramatic arc to play in the next Avatar movie. I want people to leave screenings raving about her. I want it to be her best work in two decades. Anything short of that is a complete waste of Sigourney Weaver in your sci-fi movie?
If anyone can deliver that to us it's Cameron, but he didn't seem too interested last time.
So Fox Searchlight is dead. I am so depressed. The mouse is a rat.
Satan works hard, but the Mouse House works harder. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Also, fucking lolerskates at Marvel/Disney's idea of "taking time off" for the MCU being they're releasing only two movies under it next year.
At least Star Wars/Lucasfilms is taking 3 years off to get their shit together!
We lost something significant when Disney acquired Fox. This affects Fox Searchlight too. I wonder if explicit material the studio has produced over the years will be relegated to streaming only or if Disney will entertain licensing Fox material to third parties to appease groups Disney doesn't usually cater to? F Avatar and James Cameron for wasting the rest of his career on it.
Wait, Bob's Burgers is getting a movie?
That's probably the only thing on this list that I'll end up watching.
Nat: The order people seem to be predicting is:
May 2020: Black Widow
November 2020: The Eternals
February 2021: Black Panther 2
May 2021: Doctor Strange 2
November 2021: Shang-Chi
February 2022: MCU Spider-Man 3
May 2022: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
July 2022: ?
Let's just say I don't quite buy almost ANYTHING currently scheduled past May 2021, with only May 2022 seeming "right."
My expectation?
Late August 2020: Shang-Chi (It's just a marital arts film. If they embrace that (maybe lower budget than even Blade 1), its much less post production and they could give it the late summer slot, basically risk free.)
July 2021: MCU Spider-Man 3 (This is more time sensitive than usual.)
November 2021: Fantastic Four (Yep. Marvel's first family. Back and hopefully not crap.)
February 2022: Deadpool 3
July 2022: ?. I'd hope for a TV boost up, but I'm not sure Marvel writers are allowed to even watch the shows.
Man, a big part of me wants this Avatar saga to bomb.
(however, the news of a Nimona movie is incredible!!)
What an unappealing list. Disney released some great movies during the Touchstone years but they aren't concerned with quality anymore.
Actually, thinking about it more, I don't think this really confirm anything about Fox Searchlight. It's just that they obviously don't release tentpoles and thus don't need to etch out release dates a year (or 8) in advance.
kin: I'd say that none of the Fox Searchlight stuff being dated on this schedule confirms A LOT. Specifically? I can imagine them keeping Jojo Rabbit and Nomadland (because Marvel directors) and The French Dispatch (because they have a sentimental history with Wes Anderson), but everything else? Yeah, I can't see Disney caring whether they anger Noah Hawley, Scott Cooper, Faxon and Rash or Benh Zeitlin. After 2019? Fox Searchlight almost certainly gets scuttled.
It seems, it's leaked that Marvel...
1) is finished with getting the full rights for Namor and Hulk back home.
2) will soon have Spiderman's also, thanks to the likely acqusition of Sony by Apple
3) Is leaving X-Men and Fantastic Four for phase 5, to do things properly
4) Finds "Deadpool" perfect so they won't retouch him (and can introduce him, easily, anytime, thanks to his 4th-wall breaking consciousness)
5) REALLY wants a Best Picture nomination for Avengers: Endgame
... let's see how Hollywood is going to react to Marvel's dominance of entertainment industry...