Disney Gives Release Dates To Live-action 'Lion King,' 'Frozen 2' And Other Films

Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday announced the release dates for a handful of future films, including its live-action remake of "Lion King" (July 19, 2019), "Star Wars: Episode IX" (May 24, 2019) and the sequel to its 2013 animated hit "Frozen" (Nov. 27, 2019). Disney moved the debut of "A Wrinkle in Time" up to March 9, 2018, and pushed the releases of the "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-it Ralph 2" (Nov. 21, 2018) and the untitled Indiana Jones reboot (July 10, 2020). Disney also announced release dates for a slew of untitled films, including an untitled Marvel film set to be released Aug. 7, 2020, and a Pixar film on June 18, 2021. Disney often holds a number of the most anticipated films any given year, and their opening weekends tend to command the box office. With that, Disney's updated release schedule will likely impact how the rest of the Hollywood studios lay out their film slate in years to come, which is often important for quarterly results as well. Shares of Disney were up 1.5% in intraday trade on Tuesday and have gained 10.7% in the year so far. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up 6.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 5.1% so far in 2017.

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