Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan says behind-the-scenes drama regarding reshoots is far from the truth.
Aquaman will likely go down as the most successful film in the DCEU, grossing $1.1 billion worldwide, so it didn’t take long for Warner Bros. to get the ball rolling on a sequel. Unfortunately, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has been plagued with rumblings of lackluster test screenings and multiple reshoots, but director James Wan told Empire that a lot of the behind-the-scenes drama written about online is far from the truth.
“I’ve had to learn to be more Zen in dealing with all the noise around me, for sure,” James Wan said. “I’m a pretty private person. 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.“
Wan added that the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom reshoots have been made to seem like a bigger deal than they actually are. “We probably did seven or eight days,” he said. “Which is nothing for a movie of this size. It was just spread out because it’s so hard to get your actors back once you’ve finished the initial shoot.“
The new DC Universe may be heading in a new direction, but Wan said that he’s open to directing another Aquaman movie. “I haven’t directed a third movie [in a series] before, so I’d be open to doing another [Aquaman] if I got the same freedom I’ve had on these first two,” he said. “I’m not sure what direction [Gunn and Safran] are going in, though, so who knows? I’ve learned to never say never.“
“Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all,” reads the official synopsis for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. “This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.“
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will hit theaters on December 20th.