With “The Flash” perhaps taking the crown as the biggest box office bomb of 2023—with “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” in the running as well—this year hasn’t been really great for DC superhero films. Next up, you have “Blue Beetle,” which doesn’t look like it’s going to fare much better. But the biggest question comes in December with the long-awaited release of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” the sequel to the highest-grossing DC film of all time, “Aquaman.” However, if a new report is to be believed, ‘The Lost Kingdom’ might be the DC film with the most troubled production of any released this year. And that’s saying something.
In a new THR report about the post-production woes of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” the article paints a grim picture of the future prospects of the ‘Aquaman’ sequel. For context, ‘The Lost Kingdom’ isn’t just any middling DC film. This is the sequel to the highest-grossing DC film of all time, a film that earned more than $1.13 billion worldwide and was expected to be the light at the end of the tunnel for the current crop of DC films before James Gunn and Peter Safran reboot things with “Superman: Legacy” in 2025. Hell, there were even talks about Jason Momoa’s Aquaman being one of the only major characters to carry over after the Snyderverse is shuttered. So, yeah, lots of hype surrounding this film.
However, it appears the hope Warner Bros. Discovery has had in ‘The Lost Kingdom’ has dwindled considerably over the past 18 months. With production ending in early 2022, the film started to test screen with audiences, earning low scores. Obviously, test screenings aren’t the be-all, end-all determining factor of a film’s ultimate success, but these scores resulted in not one, but two rounds of reshoots in 2022. Now, as we approach the final several months before the ‘Aquaman’ sequel is released, it’s being reported that ‘The Lost Kingdom’ has just wrapped up a third round of reshoots this summer. Three rounds of reshoots are far from normal, even for superhero films.
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While we don’t know what exactly is being reshot during these post-production months, we do know that some of the issues revolve around the Batman dilemma. You see, when ‘The Lost Kingdom’ was originally envisioned, it would exist in a world post-‘Flash’ where Michael Keaton is the reigning Batman and would be used as connective tissue in various other DC films. So, Keaton shot a scene for ‘Aquaman 2.’ Then, when that was quickly becoming a bad idea, and Keaton was likely just going to remain a fun cameo for “The Flash,” Ben Affleck came in to reshoot the scenes. However, the report now says that when Gunn and Safran took over DC Studios, the duo decided to remove the Batman scenes altogether, to help eliminate confusion about the state of the DC universe continuity. It’s a mess.
Additionally, James Gunn reportedly took a more hands-on role in the latest round of reshoots (as the co-CEO of DC Studios and the creative mastermind of the upcoming reboot, this isn’t all that alarming or shocking) after taking a look at the most recent cut of the film.
Let’s not forget about the budget either. This is what is likely the most concerning aspect for the studio, as the film originally was meant to carry a reported $205 million budget. However, three rounds of reshoots and a long post-production cycle have likely raised that number quite a bit. So, much like “The Flash,” if “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” isn’t a runaway hit in the $1 billion worldwide gross ballpark, it’s likely going to be seen as a disappointment.
All that to say, the Snyderverse is ending with ‘The Lost Kingdom’ in December, and if this report is to be believed, things aren’t looking all that great for the current DCU’s swansong. Of course, things could very well turn around and ‘Aquaman 2’ could end up being a huge hit along the same lines as the original. Needless to say, all eyes are going to be on ‘Aquaman 2’ later this year to see if DC takes yet another gut punch or if the studio can finish this round of stories on a high note. We shall see.
