The galaxy far, far away has stayed away from the big screen since the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But if the franchise ever wants to return to its former box office glory, it should stay in the holiday movie season. Disney has spent the last few years keeping Star Wars on Disney+. But the franchise’s inevitable return to cinemas lies ahead in the form of The Mandalorian & Grogu. However, the studio has scheduled the movie to be released on May 22, 2026. In recent memory, the summer has proved to be a dangerous season for the Star Wars franchise.
Disney seemed to be unstoppable after the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The blockbuster that brought the franchise back to the big screen was released on December 18, 2015, earning more than $2 billion at the global box office over the course of the holidays. The same success would be replicated for subsequent installments launched in December. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and even Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker managed to crack $1 billion in ticket sales after being released in similar spots on the calendar. But the strategy failed to work when the studio decided to shake things up.
When it became evident that Disney wanted to push Mary Poppins Returns as a major player during the awards season, the release schedule changed. Solo: A Star Wars Story was released in the summer, merely a few weeks after Avengers: Infinity War and the second Deadpool movie took the box office by storm. The result was the spinoff starring Alden Ehrenreich as a young version of the hero only earning $393 million in ticket sales after the budget grew exponentially due to extensive reshoots. Instead of learning the right lessons from the situation, Disney might be about to repeat the same mistake.
The Mandalorian & Grogu is set to be the first Star Wars movie to premiere in theaters in more than six years. The upcoming adventure directed by Jon Favreau will bring the characters introduced on Disney+ to cinemas. The only problem is that the film has been scheduled to premiere a few weeks after the release of Avengers: Doomsday. If Disney knows that releasing a Star Wars movie after a major Marvel event could be a dangerous idea, why is the studio doing it again? Could another box office disaster be in the future of this once unstoppable franchise?
A second complication took place when Disney recently removed an untitled Star Wars movie from their release schedule. The project that was rumored to be the film featuring the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey was replaced with the upcoming Ice Age 6. But the release date for this delayed production seemed to point at the studio understanding that the holiday season has played a part in the franchise’s box office success. The untitled Star Wars story was previously set to be released on December 18, 2026. The holiday movie season has done wonders for both Avatar and Star Wars. There’s no reason to change that when the franchise isn’t as strong as it used to be.
Regardless of what happens with The Mandalorian & Grogu, the studio doesn’t have much time left to bring Star Wars back to its former glory. It’s true that the original trilogy thrived in the summer, but the entertainment landscape is very different from what it used to be back when the story of Luke Skywalker began. Hundreds of movies are released every year, and that’s not even taking into account internet streaming, video games and live sports. It’s hard for a blockbuster movie to have the cultural impact Star Wars did when there’s something new to watch all the time, unlike forty years ago.
Disney should be playing it safe when it comes to Star Wars. The multiple television series based on the franchise don’t have the cultural impact the movies do. The franchise’s return to theaters will determine if the series can be as successful as it was when it returned a decade ago. Time will tell if Disney sticks to the holiday season, or if the Solo box office disaster is set to be repeated.
