The Rise of Skywalker coming to Disney+ for Star Wars Day

Subscribers will be able to watch the film on May the 4th

Disney+ subscribers will be able to watch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker two months earlier than expected as the film is re-scheduled for release in May.

The final instalment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy will drop on Disney’s streaming service around the world on 4 May (5 May in the Netherlands) to celebrate fan holiday “Star Wars Day”.

Also airing that day will be the first episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, an eight-part documentary series looking behind the scenes at the making of Disney+’s Star Wars spin-off series.

Four months after making its debut across the pond, Disney+ launched in the UK in March, with more than 50 million people across the world signing up for the platform.

It comes as The Rise of Skywalker star Daisy Ridley admitted to avoiding reading the news following the film’s cinema release in December due to the mixed reception it received from critics and fans.

“January was not that nice,” she said. ”It was weird.

“I felt like all of this love we’d been shown the first time around – I was like, ‘Where’s the love gone?’”