Disney to Release 2 New ‘Star Wars’ Movies in 2026

Mads Mikkelsen stars opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny playing Nazi scientist Dr. Jürgen Voller. The actor recently opened up about the roles that he likes to play opting to play “losers” on-screen versus “cutie pie” characters.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent SPOILER ALERT:This story discusses major plot developments in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which is now playing in theaters. Shaunette Renée Wilson (“The Resident,” “Black Panther”) landed the role of a lifetime when she was cast opposite Harrison Ford in his final “Indiana Jones” film. Wilson was hand-picked by director James Mangold to play Agent Mason in the major summer release. After a Zoom meeting with Mangold, she was cast and didn’t even have to audition, but when she received the script, she wanted to implement some changes.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments, including the final scene, in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” currently playing in theaters. When Lucasfilm announced in 2016 that Steven Spielberg was making a fifth “Indiana Jones” movie with Harrison Ford, fans naturally wondered how much of a role Karen Allen’s Marian Ravenwood — Indy’s spitfire equal from 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the love of his life — would play in the new film. The last time audiences saw Marian, she was getting married to Indy at the end of 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” after she revealed to Indy that they’d had a child together, who Indy meets as teenage greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). So any follow-up movie would at the very least need to address the fact that Indy is married with a (grown) kid.

Maybe this is why we should take filmmaker debunks with a grain of salt? Way back in 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm; you remember that, of course. And in the ensuing years, there were rumors of many proposed solo films, a Han Solo movie, a Yoda movie, and a Boba Fett film.

With “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” James Mangold returns to the blockbuster format he excelled at in the likes of “The Wolverine” and “Logan,” his two most commercially successful films to date. But while Mangold endorses the return of Indy to the big screen, in no small part because he made the franchise’s latest entry, he laments Hugh Jackman‘s return as Wolverine for the upcoming “Deadpool 3.” At the same time, however, he understands Jackman reprising the role was inevitable.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director James Mangold is moving on to direct a “Star Wars” tentpole following “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” but it’s not his first go-around with the Lucasfilm franchise. Back in 2018, news broke that Mangold had been hired to direct a movie about the bounty hunter Boba Fett. He was also set to co-write the project with Simon Kinberg, best known as a writer and producer on the “X-Men” movies. Mangold’s Boba Fett movie never got off the ground, and he recently said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that it wasn’t too surprising given the overall tone of the project. “At the point I was doing it I was probably scaring the shit out of everyone,” Mangold said. “I was making much more of a borderline R-rated, single planet spaghetti Western. They probably would never be able to embrace Baby Yoda if I had made that. It didn’t really belong in the world I was kind of envisioning.”

Alongside its top-billed stars, it features Shea Whigham, Marin Ireland and Owen Teague (who will soon headline the next “Planet of the Apes” movie alongside Freya Allen). Steve Pond at TheWrap called it “a blackly humorous riff on film noir and a tour de force for its cast,” and the film’s commercial hopes arguably lie in the two-hander at its core.

Goodbyes don’t tend to mean much in the Hollywood franchise system. Death isn’t a reliable end for characters or, lately, even actors. Technology, nostalgia and the often-inflated value of brands and IP have created a nightmarish cycle of resurrection and regurgitation, curdling what we love most.

In exciting news for movie lovers and soccer enthusiasts alike, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced that Taika Waititi’s soccer comedy, “Next Goal Wins”, will have its world premiere at the 48th edition of the festival.

Summer has just started, but film festival season is already approaching. And while Cannes dazzled with new films by Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and more, the first major salvo in the fall film festival wars has been thrown down by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The live-action Ahsoka Tano series is set to release in just a few months! Many Star Wars fans are looking forward to this project and can not wait till late August to see the chosen one’s padawan back in live-action. Luckily, we will be getting some more footage very soon! Thanks to the ESSENCE Festival this weekend we will see a sneak peek at Star Wars: Ahsoka.   “Disney is proud to return to the ESSENCE Festival of Culture as a major sponsor and showcase the magic happening across our brands,” said Jill Estorino, president and managing director of Disney Parks International.

This story about Giancarlo Esposito and “The Mandalorian” first ran in the drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.Giancarlo Esposito knows villains.The actor, whose career began in the early 1980’s (yes, that was him in a jail cell with Eddie Murphy in “Trading Places”), has always flitted between television and movie roles—he has appeared in movies by Jim Jarmusch, Wayne Wang, Spike Lee and Bong Joon-ho. And he has a particular specialty when it comes to playing characters with a, let’s say, loose moral compass.Esposito is probably best known for his role as mannered drug kingpin Gustavo Fring on “Breaking Bad” and the prequel series “Better Call Saul.” He entered “Star Wars” lore in Season 1 of “The Mandalorian” as Moff Gideon, an Imperial zealot who returned in Season 3 to terrorize the titular hero (Pedro Pascal) and enact his evil plan, which involved creepy clones of himself.

On the week I’m scheduled to speak with legendary artist Terry Gilliam, a quote from Martin Scorsese starts going viral. “I’m only now beginning to see the possibility of what cinema could be, and it’s too late,” Akira Kurosawa had expressed at 83.

Harrison Ford had the support of some Hollywood legends at the premiere of his new movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny!

“Avatar: The Way of Water” may have finally arrived in theatres in 2022, but that long parade of “Avatar” delays isn’t done, yet.

Massive release date changes were fairly commonplace over the past few years, as we watched the COVID pandemic shift entire distribution strategies for film studios. Now, it appears the WGA Strike has finally shown its impact on film releases, at least over at Disney, as the studio delays some of the biggest films on its schedule including new “Avengers,” “Star Wars,” and “Avatar” films.

There have been plenty of Star Wars games over the years, but nothing like what Star Wars Outlaws could be. This completely open-world game developed by Ubisoft is set to release sometime in 2024. Star Wars games have mostly been focused on action adventure games and shooters in recent years.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Disney is shaking up its release calendar, adding a new “Star Wars” movie and “Moana” live-action adaptation to the schedule and delaying the next three “Avatar” movies by a year. At this rate, the fifth trip to Pandora will be released in 2031. That’s in eight years, for anyone who wants to know the math. Among the highlights of the overhaul: “Moana” will be released on June 27, 2025; “Deadpool 3” moved from Nov. 8, 2024 to May 3, 2024; an untitled “Star Wars” movie is debuting on Dec. 18, 2026; “Avatar 3” has shifted to Dec. 19, 2025; “Avatar 4” to Dec. 21, 2029 and “Avatar 5” to Dec. 19, 2031. Other changes include a massive Marvel reshuffling. “Captain America: Brave New World” is moving from May 3, 2024 to Aug. 26, 2024, which in turn is delaying “Thunderbolts” to Dec. 20, 2024, “Blade” to Feb. 14, 2025, “Fantastic Four” to May 2, 2025. “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” is getting pushed back an entire year, from May 2, 2025 to May 1, 2026. It’s taking the place of “Avengers: Secret which is jumping from May 1, 2026 to May 7, 2027.

With the new Ahsoka series right around the corner, many Star Wars fans are asking one question. When does this show take place? Star Wars Celebration 2023 officially announced the Ahsoka series and that it would be released in August. The show is set to follow Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren in what has been said to be a continuation of Star Wars Rebels.

For months now, we’ve known a series led by “Star Wars” fan-favorite, Ahsoka Tano, was coming to Disney+. Several weeks ago, we saw the first full trailer for the series.