A new article from The Hollywood Reporter sheds light on the long odyssey that lies ahead. Aquaman 2 on the big screen at the end of the year.
The film has had to deal with several management changes (the latest with James Gunn and Peter Safran at the helm of DC’s newborn studio), Covid-19-induced delays, and changes to the DC calendar.
Among the victims of the two changes, of course, is not only Batman Michael Keatonbut also Ben Affleck. In fact, in Warner’s original intentions Michael Keaton he was supposed to be in every way the new Batman of the DC Universe, so much so that after Flash should have appeared not only in Aquaman 2but also in Bat Girl.
However, in March 2022, Warner Bros. announced that due to “visual effects delays due to the pandemic” Aquaman 2 will arrive in March 2023, e Flash summer of the same year. Then, a few months later, the studio decided to destroy it entirely. Bat Girl because “not redistributable”.
Meanwhile, the studio ran for cover: there was no point in showing Michael Keaton’s Batman in a sequel Aquaman since at that moment he will arrive earlier than Flashso in July 2022, he arranged an additional shoot with Ben Affleck.
This move became completely useless given that the film had been further delayed in the meantime, with Flash returned to the forefront of releases and that, contrary to the original intentions, was by no means a total reboot of the universe, not to mention that Batman the one who appears at the end of the Andy Muschietti film has neither Keaton’s nor Affleck’s face.
This brings us to the current montage Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomwhich, according to sources The reporter does not contain any Batman, which proves that the management decided to also cut scenes with Ben Affleck. The reason is that new studio executives James Gunn and Peter Safran don’t want to promise a cinematic universe that won’t materialize and don’t tie the film to past failures.
The article then highlights that the rest of post-production was far from smooth, especially in light of the not-so-convincing test predictions that resulted in a production total of three sessions extra shots. The latter were held in New Zealand in June with Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson for a total of four days.
The film’s approved budget starts at $205 million, but apparently – in light of the continuous returns to the set – in the meantime it has grown to an unknown figure. Advertising expenses, which, oddly enough, have not started yet, are excluded from the bills.
All news about Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom available in our tab. The film will hit theaters on December 25th.