‘Aquaman 2’ Had “7 or 8 Days” of Reshoots Only, Says James Wan

There’s only one movie left to be released before DCEU is rebooted into the newly established DCU, and it’s one of the most anticipated DC movies ever since it was announced, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ The first ‘Aquaman’ was a massive success both when it comes to critics and box office, but as DCEU was losing its steam lining up failed projects, the interest for ‘Aquaman 2’ somewhat dwindled.

What’s worse is that the movie received almost no marketing at all due to the SAG-AFTRA strike that prohibited the actors from promoting the movie. It was also plagued with the fact that Amber Heard kept her role as Mera following the meltdown of her very public and very uncomfortable trial with former spouse Johnny Depp. A similar situation was seen in the ‘Flash’ movie after Ezra Miller was allowed to keep his role as the titular character.

Finally, after the movie did get some positive attention, various rumors started that the movie had an extremely difficult development and that it went through numerous rounds of reshoots and test screenings due to the results being mostly negative. In July, Patrick Wilson, who played King Orm in the first movie, confirmed that at that point, the movie was still undergoing reshoots. 

Recently, also rumors resurfaced that Jason Momoa was drunk on the set on some days, and he was allegeldy harassing Heard, his co-star, by dressing up as Johnny Depp. Amber Heard also reportedly wrote in her journal that she feels unsupported by the director. As you can see, the movie generated more rumors about the development itself than the actual plot and generated quite a negative buzz months before being released. 

Now speaking with Empire Magazine, James Wan, the movie’s director, set the record straight, claiming that the movie has had only about 7 or 8 days of reshoots and that the narrative around it is completely wrong. 

“We have big actors in this movie and everyone’s schedule is really hard. So, we had to break up our shooting schedule into sections. We’ll shoot a bit here now, because this actor’s available, and then we’ll do another shoot now, because this guy’s available. People are like, ‘Oh, they’re doing a whole bunch of different shoots!’ No. If we actually combined them all together, it’s actually not that many number of days at all.”

He also set the record straight regarding dealing with negative buzz. 

“I don’t get on social media and have fights, but it’s difficult because this narrative has emerged that is not the reality. The noise is fun to write about, and it gets clicks. But people don’t know the truth.”

‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ releases in theaters worldwide on December 20, 2023. Do you look forward to it? Let us know in the comments below!

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