New DC Sequel Is Undergoing 'Unprecedented' Reshoots

Warner Bros. is struggling to keep Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom afloat.

The mega-budget sequel to Aquaman has reportedly suffered “an unprecedented number” of reshoots, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which spoke with anonymous sources close to the production.

James Wan’s sequel to DC’s highest-grossing movie just finished its third bout of reshoots in New Zealand, with actors Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson on hand.

Lost Kingdom has suffered from multiple production delays in addition to the ever-changing hierarchies at Warner and DC. Much like The Flash, which humiliated the studios at the box office just a few weeks ago, Lost Kingdom has weathered three separate regimes at Warner Bros.

Production initially wrapped in January 2022. By the summer, post-production was nearly completed. Around this time the studio began test-screening the film. The reaction was apparently poor enough that two separate rounds of reshoots were conducted sometime between last summer and earlier this year.

Warner Bros. continued to screen the retooled film to dismal results. After a particularly bad test screening, one studio exec became personally involved with making creative decisions on a new cut. When that version tested to even worse numbers, it was decided to embark upon the most recent round of reshoots.

Some of the issues are due to a lack of “story clarity,” according to production sources, but some of the problems stem from Lost Kingdom’s complicated release history. The film, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 20, was originally slated to be a part of the 2022 winter release calendar.

A cameo featuring Michael Keaton reprising his role as Batman was shot and then scrapped because it was thought Lost Kingdom would hit theaters before he was properly reintroduced to audiences in The Flash. Keaton’s scene was then reshot with Ben Affleck playing his version of Batman.

Yet if you’re expecting to see any Batman at all in Lost Kingdom, you’ll be disappointed. After employing two of the most famous actors on earth, both Affleck and Keaton’s Batmans were cut from the film.

According to sources, new DC Heads James Gunn and Peter Safran did not want to promise fans any concrete storylines given the flux that DC Films currently finds itself in. They also, apparently, did not want to include anything in Lost Kingdom that might remind fans of past DC flops.

“It was pretty chaotic,” a source close to the production admitted.

Lost Kingdom was budgeted at $205 million before its reshoots and marketing costs. In order to make a profit, it will have to not only outperform most of the recent blockbuster franchises, but also outpace DC’s sluggish recent slate. The studio has had a punishing time at the box office with their last few films, including Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and of course The Flash.

Whether or not Lost Kingdom will bring DC fans back to the theater is unclear, but we’ll have a better idea when the studio’s next movie, Blue Beetle, hits theaters on August 18.