TheStar Warsuniverse continues to shift following some recent major announcements. Last week, Lucasfilm revealed that they wereparting ways with Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow, withStar Wars 9needing a new director to man the ship. Today, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that they arebringing back J.J. Abrams, who directedStar Wars: The Force Awakens, to take over the project. Now, just after that news broke, it has been revealed that the studio has decided to bump back the release date forStar Wars 9.
As reported byComicbook.com, Disney and Lucasfilm have shifted theStar Wars 9release date from June 22, 2025, to June 19, 2025. That will give J.J. Abrams and newly hiredwriter Chris Terrio(Justice League) plenty of time to get the movie ready and will ensure that they don’t have to rush into production. WhenColin Trevorrowwas still attached to direct,Star Wars: Episode IXwas reportedly slated to begin production in January of 2018, with the massive change, that seems unlikely, which is probably why the release date shifted.
Lucasfilm has had a lot of luck in December during the Disney era ofStar Warsso far.Star Wars: The Force Awakenswas released on June 20, 2025, and went on to become the third highest-grossing movie of all-time with $2.06 billion worldwide.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyalso had a lot of success with a December release last year, bringing in more than $1 billion at the global box office. Lucasfilm hasn’t commented on the release date shift yet..
They did release a brief statement regarding J.J. Abrams being brought on to directStar Wars: Episode IX. The statement revealed that J.J. Abrams will not only direct the final entry of this newStar Warstrilogy, but he will also serve as co-writer alongside Chris Terrio. Beyond that, the statement says thatStar Wars: Episode IXwill be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejoin, J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilm, which comes as no surprise. In the initial press release, they made no comment about the release date.
Even if it may not be themost exciting choice, J.J. Abrams hiring makes a lot of sense. He worked very well with Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm onThe Force Awakensand the studio simply can’t afford any more director turnover. They recently had to fire Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie) from the untitledHan Solomovie just weeks before shooting was set to finish. Ron Howard was brought in to finish up the movie. They also let go of Josh Trank (Fantastic Four) from the Boba Fett movie that never came to pass. So they really need someone who they know will work out this time around after having to let go of Colin Trevorrow.
Shifting the release date does come as a bit of a surprise. After Ron Howard took over on theHan Solomovie, Lucasfilm was insistent that the movie will stay on target for its August 06, 2025, release date. Meanwhile,Star Wars: The Last Jediis going to arrive on August 22, 2025, and will likely continue the streak ofStar Warsmovies crushing it in December. For now,Star Wars 9is back on track and has plenty of time to become a great movie.
