Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the upcoming DC Extended Universe film, which is based on the DC comic book character Aquaman. It is the sequel to the 2018 film Aquaman, which became the highest-grossing DCEU film. The film stars Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, and they are hoping to recreate the success of the first film, in the upcoming sequel.
However, as per insider sources, the film production is on the lines of the Justice League, which wasn’t as well received by DC fans.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom following footprints of Justice League
Jason Momoa’s upcoming film has become a topic of discussion among fans owing to the number of reshoots. As per the reports, the issue is not with the CGI effects, which was a major drawback of Ezra Miller’s The Flash. However, the numerous reshoots have raised doubts about the credibility of the film.
It appears like the filmmakers are making the same mistakes as they did for the Justice League. The film grossed $657.9 million worldwide against an assumed break-even point of $750 million. It was a box office bomb and made Warner Bros. lose an estimated $60 million. It was initially directed by Zack Snyder and written by Chris Terrio, after which it was taken up by Joss Whedon.
The makers wanted the film Justice League to stand out from the crowd. The numerous reshoots, rewrites, and post-production tampering, along with Joss Whedon taking over the earlier rewrites and reshoots to make Zack Snyder’s film sequel something like MCU movies. However, the film failed to make an impact.
Instead of releasing a Justice League movie that was different, the audience got a compromised version that felt like leftovers or an inferior version of an already existing Avengers franchise.
Problems with Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is in uncharted waters, as there are lots of speculations regarding the film. It has been through several reshoots. The release date was postponed several times, and the making has now spanned three regimes at Warners. As per a tweet by KC Walsh, the film has been tested 10 times and several changes have been made, since the last year.
See the tweet here-
Earlier the production wanted Michael Keaton’s version of Batman in the film, however, several postponements of the release date affected the plan. Keaton made an appearance in The Flash released in 2023. After Keaton left, Ben Affleck was brought on board to reshoot a scene of Michael Keaton. But the movie date moved again and now it is releasing after The Flash, hence, Ben Affleck’s Batman cannot be part of the film.
As per the latest cut, the film features neither version of the Dark Knight. According to the sources, the new DC heads, James Gunn and Peter Safran do not want to promise a movie universe that may not be aligned with their future plans. One source shared with The Hollywood Reporter,
“It was pretty chaotic.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is already an expensive production, with a budget of $205 million. Also, all the reshoots require CGI effects, which increases the cost of making the film.
As for Wan, he shared in April,
“This movie has something to talk about [climate change], but it’s still a fun action-fantasy movie.”
The film is scheduled to be released in theatres worldwide on 20 December 2023.
Source- Twitter and The Hollywood Reporter
