'Star Wars' Episode IX will take on 'Wonder Woman' with a new release date

Just a few hours after Lucasfilm announced a new director for Star Wars Episode IX, it got around to announcing a new release date.

The J.J. Abrams-directed film is now set to land in theaters December 20, 2019 – seven months after the previously announced release date of May 2019.

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Though it's still two years away, December 2019 is already shaping up to be a huge month for the movies. Episode IX's release date falls just one week after one of our other most highly anticipated 2019 titles, Wonder Woman 2.

Although The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and now The Last Jedi have made Star Wars something of a holiday season tradition, it looked for a while like the franchise might set up shop in summer starting with 2018's Han Solo movie and then 2019's Episode IX.

As of right now, the Han Solo film is still officially scheduled for May 25, 2018 – but with all the big changes behind the scenes, we wouldn't be surprised to see it pushed back to December. Especially now that Episode IX's staking out a December slot, too.

Which is just fine with us, honestly. We could get used to finding a new Star Wars movie under the Christmas tree every year.