It’s now been almost a month since filming wrapped on Star Wars: Episode IX, and in all that time, Lucasfilm has yet to offer so much as a hint of when the movie’s official title or first trailer might be unveiled. At this rate, it’s looking genuinely likely that the studio is saving both reveals for Star Wars Celebration next month, and thanks to a new announcement from the convention, it seems that we may have the exact date on which the goods will be delivered.
On April 12th – the second day of Celebration – director J.J. Abrams will be discussing Episode IX at a panel in Chicago, and there’s good reason to believe that the trailer will premiere at this very event. To put it simply, the first teaser for The Last Jedi debuted at a Star Wars Celebration panel just like this, suggesting that Lucasfilm might well be planning the same for the sequel.
As for the title, the official name of the previous Star Wars episode dropped on January 23rd on the year of its release, so in a sense, Episode IX is already overdue to get the same treatment. But assuming the title doesn’t emerge in these next few weeks, it’s hard to imagine the Celebration weekend coming and going without Abrams doing the honors, perhaps revealing the title at the same time as the teaser.
Incidentally, it’s also been a popular prediction for a while now that Star Wars Celebration may bring us the first footage from The Mandalorian, since the convention will coincide with a Disney investor meeting that will reportedly offer a “first look” at various Disney Plus shows. But regardless of how much material is headed our way next month, the second half of 2019 is set to bring us a whole load of Star Wars content, culminating in the release of Star Wars: Episode IX on December 20th.