There was ‘Ant-Man 2,’ ‘Shazam 2,’ “Blue Beetle,” “The Flash,” “The Marvels,” but the year wouldn’t be complete without another superhero box-office bomb.
The latest one destined to be cast in infamy is James Wan’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.” The first projections are in and Box-Office Pro has its opening weekend nearing anywhere between $32-42 million. That’s not good.
Last we heard, the budget for this one was said to be $215 million, but that’s not counting the reshoots. The movie has also been plagued with rewrites, multiple test screenings and different endings. Not to mention, according to co-star Amber Heard’s written notes, an allegedly drunk Jason Momoa showing up on-set, dressed like Johnny Depp, to taunt her.
Momoa also tried to get Heard out of the project. Ultimately, the studio didn’t fire Heard, but only because her former boyfriend, Elon Musk, had a litigator “threaten to burn the house down” if Heard didn’t get to return for the sequel. Warner Bros. caved and moved forward with Heard.
Suffice to say, audience appetite for comic book movies has evolved these last few years, and that’s putting it politely. These ‘Aquaman 2’ numbers would put it in about the same league as “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” but worse than “The Marvels.” Hey, at least it won’t be as bad as “Blue Beetle.”
Early pre-sales are pacing 62 percent behind “Black Adam, this after Box-Office Pro’s one day sample market tracking. Much like was the case with “The Marvels,” reviews could determine the opening weekend numbers for ‘Aquaman 2.’ I’m guessing critics will not greet it so warmly.
‘Aquaman 2’ received terrible test scores last year. Then reshoots occurred, with rumors saying there were three rounds of them, James Wan tried to downplay these rumors by saying it was just “7 or 8 days.” Then the film kept getting test-screened, over and over and over. On last count, there have been seven test-screenings of ‘Aquaman 2.’ This is really unheard of.
Principal photography began in London on June 28, 2021, and wrapped in January 2022. After multiple release date changes, which included December 16, 2022, and March 17, 2023, Warner Bros finally settled on a December 25, 2023 launch for this DCEU movie.