Disney shifts its release slate, including 'Mulan', 'Star Wars' and 'Avatar'

Mulan (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios)

Release date musical chairs continues as North American studios continue to try and guess when the pandemic is over. As you might have realized by now, that's like throwing darts at a moving target that also happens to be spinning. Disney's live-action Mulan, a trio of Star Wars films, and Avatar are the latest casualties. New dates, or at least what we know for the time being have just been announced via several sources (and in the case of Avatar, a letter from Cameron's Twitter account).

The slate now looks something like this:

• Mulan Releasing to Disney+ Premier Access on Sept. 4.
• Avatar 2: December 16, 2022
• Avatar 3: December 20, 2024
• Avatar 4: December 18, 2026
• Avatar 5: December 22, 2028
• Untitled Star Wars project moves to December 22, 2023.
• Untitled Star Wars project moves to December 19, 2025.
• Untitled Star Wars project moves to December 17, 2027.

While "indefinite" can be a scary word, this is actually good news. It means the folks in charge are cooling their jets enough to wait for when they can get a solid read on when it may be safe for folks to enjoy films in theaters again. We will all see Mulan, all of these Star Wars projects, and the eleventy billion Avatar sequels that Cameron has planned for his epic. We've just gotta give it a minute so we can all do it together safely.

*Edited to add Fandago's updated release dates for Avatar.

A message from James Cameron.Irayo, Na'vi Nation. Stay safe. 💙 pic.twitter.com/Uwi2J6xF4kJuly 23, 2020