With “The Flash” on track to be a major box-office dud and with the “Shazam” sequel having underperformed, there’s obvious concern about the fate of the two remaining pre-Gunn/Safran DC Studios films to be released in the coming months.
The first is “Blue Beetle” in August, with a $120 million budget and a new hero in an essentially standalone feature. How that film might perform is anyone’s guess at the moment.
More concerning is James Wan’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”. At a much more costly $205 million production budget, Warners can’t really afford another “Flash”-level flop.
Working in its favor is the success of the first film, the movie’s charismatic star Jason Momoa along with its respected director. Against it is the perception that it marks the end of an already dead ‘universe’, so why should people invest time in it?
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Wan was asked what’s the reason for seeing the film being that it doesn’t really connect to the larger DC movie franchise coming up. He says:
“Well, Aquaman – even the first film – has always been a very standalone film. That was always our approach: that it kind of lives in its own world, and that’s kind of how we’ve approached The Lost Kingdom as well.
You know, people love Jason Momoa; people love him playing this role; and people love the action visuals of this space and this world.
And that’s what we’re doing: we’re taking it to the next level and we are still expanding – and just any fans of Aquaman the character, that love Black Manta, this is the next level and I’m very excited to finally put out there to show them what we’ve been working on all these years.”
In the film, an ancient power is unleashed, and Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation.
The film will see the return of Momoa as Aquaman/Arthur Curry alongside Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna, and Randall Park as Stephen Shin.
Joining them are Pilou Asbaek in an unknown role, Jani Zhao as the new character Stingray, Indya Moore as Karshon, and Vincent Regan as Atlan.
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is set to be released in cinemas on December 20th.
