It apparently hasn’t been smooth sailing for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The DC sequel from filmmaker James Wan has reportedly completed its third round of reshoots, with stars Jason Mamoa and Patrick Wilson on site in New Zealand last month.
The Hollywood Reporter adds that reshoots are common for superhero blockbusters, but to have three of them is pretty rare. For context, Aquaman 2 started production all the way back on July 19, 2021–exactly two years ago today. The sequel then wrapped its initial shoot in January 2022, and the film was set to release in December 2022. The movie is now set to release December 20, 2023, after getting reshuffled along with the Shazam: Fury of the Gods delay.
The reshoots and changing release dates have reportedly led to Batman getting thrown overboard for Aquaman 2. Originally, Michael Keaton’s Caped Crusader was supposed to show up in the sequel, as his character was going to appear in various DC films under former Warner Bros. bosses Toby Emmerich and his lieutenant, DC Films head Walter Hamada. But at one point, Aquaman 2 was going to premiere before The Flash, messing up those plans. This led to current WB film leaders Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy overseeing Ben Affleck returning as the Dark Knight in Aquaman 2.
But that cameo has apparently been cut out now, too. DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran–who assumed their leadership roles in October 2022–reportedly don’t want to tease a superhero universe that they aren’t developing as they reboot DC movies in the coming years.
So it seems the rotating leadership through Aquaman 2’s production has played a part in the choppy waters to release. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter notes Abdy got involved with the DC sequel at one point and was hands-on for a new cut of the movie. That version then supposedly tested even worse than the previous one.
That said, per The Hollywood Reporter’s sources, the reshoots last month apparently went well. Aquaman 2 is still set to premiere December 20.
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