Do the blockbuster shuffle: STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII and PIRATES sequel shift dates

It’s a good old case of pirates swooping in for space heroes (that old trope!) with announcement this morning from Walt Disney Studios. The yet untitled Star Wars: Episode VIII will be changing from its early summer debut to a December 15, 2017 debut instead. The film is in pre-production and will begin principal photography in London next month.

Now Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales  will set sail in that vacated timeslot of May 26, 2017. Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush will be reprising their fan-favorite roles in the film as will the ineffable Captain Jack Sparrow portrayed by Johnny Depp.

Full announcement below.

Star Wars: Episode VIII, originally scheduled for release on May 26, 2017, will now debut on December 15, 2017. The move follows the extraordinary success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was the first Star Wars movie to premiere in December. In the popular holiday moviegoing corridor, it smashed numerous records, including biggest domestic and global debuts of all time as well as the biggest domestic second and third weekends, en route to becoming the highest grossing domestic release of all time with over $861M and the third biggest global release ever with $1.887B.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode VIII is currently in pre-production and will begin principal photography in London next month. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman will produce and J.J. Abrams, Tom Karnowski, and Jason McGatlin will executive produce. Stay tuned to StarWars.com for exciting updates in the coming weeks.

With Star Wars: Episode VIII jumping to December, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will set sail on May 26, 2017, from its previously scheduled July 7, 2017, berth. The blockbuster franchise’s previous installment, the $1B-grossing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, also debuted in late May.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow with Geoffrey Rush back on board as Barbossa, Orlando Bloom resurfacing as Will Turner, and a terrifying new adversary, Captain Salazar, played by Javier Bardem, in the mix. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the film is currently in post-production.