Movie news: ‘Star Wars’ moves out and makes way for He-Man

‘I have the power’

In case you missed it, there was a disturbance in the Force earlier this week. Disney/Lucasfilm has been scheduling new “Star Wars” sequels for Christmastime. All of a sudden, the studio moved up the untitled “Star Wars: Episode IX” to Memorial Day weekend 2019. (Despite the reaction on Twitter, this isn’t that big a deal: used to be all the “Star Wars” films opened in summer.)

That left a big hole to be filled by … He-Man. Sony Pictures stepped in with “Masters of the Universe,” a live-action version of the awesomely cheesy ’80s cartoon, set for Dec. 18, 2019. Unfortunately, the studio is still hunting for a director; McG just left the project, according to The Wrap.

In the meantime, to sate your He-Man appetite, entertain yourself with this video:

Mark your calendars

At the same time, Disney announced a whole spate of dates for other hotly anticipated, just-can’t-wait movies, including “Frozen 2” on Nov. 27, 2019. Also:

▪ The live-action reboot of “The Lion King” on July 19, 2019.

▪ A fifth installment of Indiana Jones on July 10, 2020 — when star Harrison Ford will be nearly 78 years old.

R.I.P., Jonathan Demme

To remember director Jonathan Demme, who died of complications from esophageal cancer this week, here are five of his best films for your own private Demme Memorial Film Fest:

▪ “The Silence of the Lambs”: This creepy thriller won Oscars for picture, Demme, stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins and for screenwriter. Watch it with a nice Chianti; fava beans optional.

▪ “Philadelphia”: Tom Hanks won an Oscar for this first big Hollywood film to tackle AIDS.

▪ “Melvin and Howard”: Mary Steenburgen won an Oscar in this quirky tale of a gas station owner who thinks he’s the heir to Howard Hughes.

▪ “Something Wild”: The strange road trip romance starring Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith.

▪ “Stop Making Sense”: The dynamic concert film about David Byrne and the Talking Heads.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 1:37 PM with the headline "Movie news: ‘Star Wars’ moves out and makes way for He-Man."