As the much-publicised ongoing defamation trial involving actors and former partners Johnny Depp and Amber Heard continues, Heard has reportedly alleged that Warner Bros. Pictures “didn’t want to include me” in their upcoming DC Comics film “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” according to Variety.
Heard played the role of Mera both in Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” and in James Wan’s “Aquaman,” serving as the female lead in the latter film. Both were two roles in “a three-picture option” and the actress earned $1 million for her work on the first “Aquaman”.
According to the trade, she claims she earned twice as much for the sequel which marks her third and final film in the contract. However, her role in the upcoming sequel is apparently a “very pared-down version”:
“I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoiler aways, two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch out.”
This would fit in with rumors earlier this year indicating Heard only appears in about ten minutes of the new film which also stars Jason Momoa, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison and Nicole Kidman.
The comments come as Depp’s involvement in the future of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise seems murky. That film series’ producer Jerry Bruckheimer told The Times this week there are no plans for Depp to appear as Jack Sparrow for the next entry: “Not at this point, the future is yet to be decided.”
He did tell the outlet though that two ‘Pirates’ scripts are in development and they have a specific star in mind: “We’re talking to Margot Robbie. We are developing two ‘Pirates’ scripts – one with her, one without.”
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is scheduled to be released in cinemas on March 17th 2023.
