We still have another eight months or so to go until Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes into our lives but that hasn't stopped Disney from announcing when the next installment of the Skywalker saga will arrive after that. 

The studio has announced that Star Wars Episode IX will arrive in theaters on May 24th, 2019. As we already know, the film will be directed by Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow. 

The May release date marks a return to summer releases for the franchise. While The Force Awakens was released in December, as is the case with The Last Jedi, every other installment of the Skywalker saga has been a summer release. In fact, The Last Jedi was originally penciled in to be released in May of this year. That was most likely due to Disney not wanting to release more than one Star Wars movie in one year, with Roge One only hitting cinemas in December 2016. The Han Solo spin off is scheduled to be released in May of 2018 so Disney shouldn't have a similar situation arise for Episode IX. 

Daisy Ridely, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver are all expected to reprise their roles for the film but, as has already been confirmed by Kathleen Kennedy, we will not see any more of Carrie Fisher's Princess/General Leia beyond The Last Jedi.

In addition to a release date for Episode IX, Disney have also revealed that Jon Favreau's live action remake of The Lion King will be ready for a July 19th, 2019 release. That date was previously occupied by a fifth Indiana Jones film but that has now been moved to July 2020. This comes as little surprise really considering Spielberg has a whole host of projects on the go at the minute, including Ready Player One

There was also confirmation that a sequel to Frozen will be in theaters November, 2019. 

Via Variety