Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in U.S. theaters on December 16, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on December 15, 2017, the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25, 2018, Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019, and the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will celebrate the one year anniversary of its U.S. release date at around the same time as Rogue One’s December 16 premiere in American theaters.
The only concern that the makers of Rogue One could possibly have with the movie getting an early release in the U.K. is if the general reaction to the movie is initially lukewarm or worse, but the Star Wars franchise is likely too big to have that much of an issue at the U.S. box office, even if the movie does not live up to the critical or commercial standard set by The Force Awakens.
The majority of the marketing surrounding Rogue One, the first standalone Star Wars movie since Disney’s acquisition of LucasFilm, has already been released, which means that the rest of the movie’s secrets won’t be uncovered until it arrives in theaters.