Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is an American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Aquaman. Produced by DC Studios, the Safran Company, and Atomic Monster Productions, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is intended to be the sequel to Aquaman (2018) and the 15th and final film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film is directed by James Wan from a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, and stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Aquaman alongside Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Kidman and Dolph Lundgren. In the film, Arthur must work with his half-brother Orm (Wilson) to prevent Black Manta (Abdul-Mateen II) from killing his family and using the cursed Black Trident to overheat the world while searching for the lost seventh kingdom of the seas.
Momoa pitched a story for an Aquaman sequel during production of the first film. Wan did not want to rush a sequel but later agreed in January 2019 to oversee development. Johnson-McGoldrick signed to write the screenplay a month later, and Wan was confirmed to be directing in August 2020. Wan stated the film would expand on Aquaman's worldbuilding, and announced the sequel's title in June 2021. Filming began at the end of the month and concluded in January 2022, taking place in the United Kingdom, Hawaii, Los Angeles, and New Jersey, with additional filming in New Zealand.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom premiered at a fan event at the Grove, Los Angeles on December 19, 2023 was released in the United States on December 22, following numerous delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and post-production and financial setbacks. The film received mostly mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and grossed $434 million worldwide against a production budget of $205–215 million.
== Plot ==
Four years after becoming king of Atlantis,Arthur Curry has married Mera and had a son, Arthur Jr., while splitting his life between land and sea. Meanwhile, David Kane / Black Mantacontinues to seek revenge against Arthur for his father's death, working with marine biologist Stephen Shin to find Atlanteanartifacts. When Shin accidentally discovers a cavern in Antarctica, Manta finds a Black Trident that possesses him, its creator promising to give him the power to destroy Arthur.
Five months later, Manta attacks Atlantis and breaks into its Orichalcum reserves to steal them to power his Atlantean machines that are ancient but are of unknown design to modern Atlanteans. They are caught midway and chased by Atlantean forces, with Mera injured in the ensuing battle. Arthur learns that this usage of Orichalcum, which emits high quantities of greenhouse gases, has not only raised planetary temperatures and caused extreme weather and ocean acidification but nearly caused a planetary extinction in the past when used by an ancient Atlantean kingdom. To learn where Manta is hiding, Arthur breaks his half-brother Orm out of prison, and they visit a pirate haven called the Sunken Citadel, meeting Kingfish to learn of Manta's whereabouts.
The information they obtain leads them to a volcanic island in the South Pacific, where they battle Manta's forces after getting themselves through flora and fauna mutated by the Orichalcum. There, Orm comes into contact with the Black Trident, which shows him visions of its provenance. Orm learns the trident was created by Kordax, the brother of King Atlan and ruler of the lost kingdom of Necrus. Kordax was imprisoned with blood magic following a failed attempt to usurp the throne. Realizing the blood of any of Atlan's descendants could release Kordax; the pair learn that Manta has kidnapped Arthur Jr. The Atlanteans, with Shin's help, determine that Necrus' prison is located in Antarctica.
In Necrus, Arthur fights Manta and is almost killed before Mera arrives and saves him. Manta throws the Black Trident at Mera, but Orm catches it before it strikes her. The spirit of Kordax leaves Manta for Orm, who proceeds to fight Arthur and uses Arthur's blood to free Kordax. Arthur convinces his brother to give up his hatred for him, allowing him to destroy both Kordax and the Black Trident. With Kordax's magic vanishing, Necrus starts to collapse. Manta refuses Arthur's help and allows himself to fall into a fissure. The Atlanteans and Shin escape to safety and decide that Orm has redeemed himself. They plan to inform Atlantis that Orm died on the condition that he remains hidden, vacating to the surface world. Believing the unification of the underwater kingdoms and the surface world is necessary to prevent further damage to the oceans, Arthur reveals Atlantis' existence through an announcement at the United Nations and declares his intentions of making the kingdom a member state.
== Cast ==
*Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry / Orin / Aquaman:
** The half-Atlantean/half-human king of Atlantis who can swim at supersonic speeds and communicate with aquatic life, and is the father of Arthur Jr. with Mera.
*Patrick Wilson as Orm Marius:
** Arthur's Atlantean half-brother and the former king of Atlantis who is imprisoned in the Sahara desert by the Deserter tribe following his crimes against Atlantis.
*Amber Heard as Mera:
** The queen of Atlantis and former princess of Xebel, Arthur's wife and mother of Arthur Jr., and King Nereus' daughter who can control water with her mind and communicate with other Atlanteans telepathically.
*Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane / Black Manta:
** A ruthless pirate and high-seas mercenary who uses an Atlantean armored suit and wields the powerful Black Trident, seeking to kill Arthur and his family as revenge for the death of his father.
*Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin:
** A marine biologist obsessed with finding Atlantis.
*Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus:
** The king of Xebel and Mera's father.
*Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry:
** Arthur's father, a lighthouse keeper.
*Martin Short as Kingfish (voice):
**A gigantic fish and the confident ruler of the Sunken Citadel, an underwater pirate haven.
*Nicole Kidman as Atlanna:
** Arthur's mother and the former queen of Atlantis.
Additionally appearing are Vincent Regan as Atlan, the first king of Atlantis, replacing Graham McTavish from the first film; Jani Zhao as Stingray; Indya Moore as Karshon; and Pilou Asbæk as Kordax, Atlan's brother and the king of the Lost Kingdom of Necrus.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
During the production of Aquaman (2018), star Jason Momoa developed a story pitch for a sequel that he gave to Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich and producer Peter Safran. In October 2018, before the film's release, Momoa said he would be more involved in the development of a potential sequel and expected filming to begin in 2019. Director James Wan said there were several storylines that could spin out from Aquaman, with that film introducing seven underwater kingdoms that had yet to be fully explored. Emmerich had enough confidence in box office projections for the film by early December to begin discussing a sequel. By the end of January, when Aquaman was set to become the highest-grossing film based on a single DC Comics character, Warner Bros. was in negotiations with Wan to oversee the development and writing of a sequel with the potential to return as director. Geoff Boucher of Deadline Hollywood noted that Wan had been very protective of sequels to his previous films Insidious (2010) and The Conjuring (2013), and was "deeply invested" in the worldbuilding of Aquaman. Wan had previously compared the world of Aquaman to other fictional worlds such as Middle-earth, the Star Wars galaxy, and the Wizarding World.
In early February 2019, Warner Bros. hired Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald to write the script for an Aquaman spin-off film titled The Trench, based on one of the kingdoms introduced in the first film. It was expected to have a smaller budget and not feature the main cast of Aquaman, with Wan and Safran producing. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter reported then that there had not yet been serious discussions about a direct sequel to Aquaman between the studio, Wan, and Momoa, due to them wanting to have a "breather" first, but several days later he reported that active development on a sequel was getting underway with the first film's co-writer, and frequent Wan collaborator, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick signing on to write the screenplay. Wan and Safran were producing the sequel, though it was still unclear if Wan would direct it. At the end of February, Warner Bros. scheduled Aquaman 2 for release on December 16, 2022. The next month, Safran explained that he and Wan did not want to rush a sequel, and Warner Bros. had been supportive of that which is why the film's release was scheduled for four years after the first film. He added that they were approaching the Aquaman franchise in a similar way to the Conjuring Universe, with spin-offs like The Trench exploring stories about the underwater kingdoms alongside the "mothership" films starring Aquaman. Safran said Wan knew "the architecture, the armory, the military, the look, the feel, the general vibe" of each of the seven kingdoms and wanted to explore them all in future projects.
In July 2019, Wan was set to direct the film Malignant (2021) before beginning work on Aquaman 2. Patrick Wilson said in November that he had discussed plans for the sequel with Wan and indicated that he would be reprising his role as Orm Marius / Ocean Master from the first film. A month later, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II confirmed that he was returning as David Kane / Black Manta, and was looking to flesh out the character. Johnson-McGoldrick stated in March 2020 that the sequel would not be based on a specific comic book, but was taking inspiration from the Aquaman stories of the Silver Age of Comic Books that featured Black Manta as the villain. Wan was confirmed to be directing the sequel at the virtual DC FanDome event in August, when he said it would be more serious than the first film and feature themes that were more relevant to the real world. He added that it would include more worldbuilding and exploration of the underwater kingdoms, and would feature some horror elements similar to the Trench sequence in the first film. Being able to expand on the worldbuilding of the first film was one of the key reasons that Wan chose to direct the sequel, along with Johnson-McGoldrick's script which Wan felt had a "really cool story to bring all these characters back, and then growing them in a big way".
Amber Heard debunked rumors in November that she would not be reprising her role as Mera from the first film following allegations of domestic abuse made against her by her ex-husband Johnny Depp. That month, a petition to have Heard fired from the franchise received more than 1.5 million signatures, and came after Warner Bros. removed Depp from Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) when allegations made by The Sun that Depp abused Heard were ruled to be "substantially true" in a defamation lawsuit filed by Depp against The Sun. Safran said they never considered making the film without Heard and would not react to the "pure fan pressure" of the petition and other social media conversations. However, Heard later stated (during a defamation trial brought against her by Depp over a column in The Washington Post) that "they didn't want to include" her in the film and she had to fight to keep her part, claiming that revisions were made to the script that reduced her role to a "very pared down version", including removing action sequences for her character, and she was unable to renegotiate her contract (Heard's original contract stipulated that she earn $2 million for the sequel, double what she made for the first film). By that point, in May 2022, the petition to have Heard removed from the film had received more than 4 million signatures. DC Films head Walter Hamada said they did consider recasting Mera, but this was due to concerns over Heard's chemistry with Momoa rather than the abuse allegations. He added that it was the studio's policy not to renegotiate contracts for all actors, and said the size of Heard's role had not changed during development of the sequel. He explained that the film was always intended to be a "buddy comedy" that focused on the relationship between Aquaman and Orm. The defamation trial's jury found that Heard's Washington Post column had damaged Depp's career and she was ordered to pay him compensation. Social media responses to the trial also heavily favored Depp over Heard, with "countless memes and TikToks mocking her testimony". In June 2022, reports emerged that Heard had been fired from the film following the trial, but these were also debunked.
=== Pre-production ===
Dolph Lundgren said in February 2021 that he was reprising his role as King Nereus in the sequel, with filming expected to begin later that year in London. A month later, the planned start date for filming was revealed to be in June, though there was potential for this to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, Warner Bros. and DC announced that development on The Trench was no longer moving forward, with the studios not having room for the spin-off on their slate of films and believing Aquaman 2 to be enough of an expansion of the franchise for the time being. Later that month, Pilou Asbæk entered talks to join the film's cast. Momoa said in May that he would begin filming in July, and Wan announced a month later that the sequel was titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with Temuera Morrison confirming his return as Aquaman's father Thomas Curry. Willem Dafoe was also set to reprise his role as Nuidis Vulko from the first film, but it was later confirmed that he won't appear. Wan attributed Dafoe's absence to scheduling conflicts from his part, but felt that Vulko's absence allowed for Atlanna's role to be expanded as her son's advisor on how the underwater world works.
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began in London on June 28, 2021, under the working title Necrus, with Don Burgess returning as cinematographer from the first film. In August, Wan said the sequel was strongly influenced by the film Planet of the Vampires (1965). Filming took place at Saunton Sands beach, Devon, in early September. Later that month, Asbæk's casting was confirmed; Randall Park was revealed to be returning from the first film as Dr. Stephen Shin; Vincent Regan had been cast as the ancient king Atlan, replacing Graham McTavish who briefly portrayed the character in the first film; Jani Zhao was set to portray Stingray, an original character for the film, in her first English-language feature role; and Indya Moore was revealed to be portraying Karshon in the sequel. After shooting 95 percent of the film in the United Kingdom, production moved to Hawaii until December 9, for on-location shooting. Filming also occurred in Jersey City, New Jersey that year. Nicole Kidman was confirmed to have reprised her role as Aquaman's mother Atlanna shortly after that. Filming then moved to Los Angeles, and officially wrapped on January 12, 2022, in Malibu. Filming was completed on time and under budget, and reportedly needed around a week of reshoots.
=== Post-production ===
Warner Bros. adjusted its release schedule in March 2022 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workload of visual effects vendors. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was moved to March 17, 2023, and The Flash was also moved from 2022 to 2023, to allow time for their visual effects work to be completed, while Shazam! Fury of the Gods was moved up to this film's previous release date because it would be ready for release earlier. Wan said that while he loved the Christmas release timeframe for the film, he was thankful for this delay as it allowed more time for work on the visual effects and the new technology for it, which he called groundbreaking, and said the film would not have made its prior release date. He had also been working on his director's cut at this time. Wilson also said that new VFX techniques were used for The Lost Kingdom. In June 2022, the final writing credits were revealed: Johnson-McGoldrick received screenplay credit, while the duos of Wan and Johnson-McGoldrick, and Momoa and his producing partner Thomas Pa'a Sibbett received story credit.
Momoa revealed in July 2022 that Ben Affleck was reprising his DC Extended Universe (DCEU) role of Bruce Wayne / Batman for reshoots on the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California. Aaron Couch of The Hollywood Reporter reported soon after that Michael Keaton had filmed a scene as his version of Bruce Wayne / Batman from Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Keaton's version was set to be introduced to the DCEU in The Flash before that film's release was pushed to after Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's. The scene reportedly confused audiences during test screenings, and Couch felt this was why Affleck joined the reshoots. The film was tested at this time and received mixed results, which continued after it was recut in mid-2022, prompting a new cut to be made.The next month, after Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery earlier that year, the studio delayed the film to December 25, 2023, to help spread out the marketing and distribution costs for its feature films. This pushed the film's release to after the planned release of The Flash, which meant there was potential for Keaton's version of Batman to appear in the film instead of Affleck's. In October, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Keaton's cameo had potentially been cut. Around that time, Warner Bros. film chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy told Wan to reduce the budget for reshoots, as the film's budget had reached $205 million during production. By mid-November, Safran had been "fixing" the film, after he had become the co-CEO of the newly formed DC Studios with James Gunn, who had provided notes on the film by the following month. Momoa said in January 2023 that he had shot scenes with a couple of actors as Batman, but was unsure which would be included in the final cut.
In April 2023, the film's release date was moved up five days earlier to December 20, 2023. Between mid-2022 and the start of 2023, two sets of reshoots took place following several test screenings, with De Luca and Abdy involved in editing the film. After further test screenings in early 2023, Gunn then consulted on the film. Those reshoots concluded right before the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike began that May, and the studios approached a third set of reshoots, which increased the film's budget, to occur in New Zealand over five days in mid-June with Momoa and Wilson, and was completed in four days. By then, both Affleck and Keaton were excluded from the latest cut of the film due to Gunn and Safran's plans to reboot the DCEU into their new franchise the DC Universe (DCU); neither actor appeared in the final version of the film. Following the reshoots, the film's budget ultimately reached $215 million. Around that time, Wan said he had to make some adjustments during production as it had been challenging to keep track of the different versions of the DCEU while remaining mindful of other plans for the franchise, but was fortunate that the Aquaman films were "far removed" from the rest of the DCEU films and characters. In September, Wan said the film would not be connected to any previous DCEU films as he was uncertain if it was going to be released before or after The Flash. He explained that he had directed a relatively small amount of additional photography, which he described as a routine part of the production process, due to some actors being unavailable during some parts of principal photography. Lundgren later said that the studio decided to reshoot much of the footage to rebuild it with a slightly different storyline, resulting in his and Heard's roles being reduced.
In October 2023, the film's release was delayed by two days to December 22, 2023. The following month, Warner Bros. signed a new multi-year co-financing deal with Domain Capital for their theatrical films, including The Lost Kingdom, through that company's $700 million fund for media and entertainment, Domain Entertainment. Kirk Morri returned as the editor from the first film and Nick Davis served as the visual effects supervisor, having previously worked on The Dark Knight (2008). Nearly each frame in the film featured visual effects, which were provided by Cinesite, DNEG, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Moving Picture Company (MPC), Scanline VFX, and Rodeo FX.
== Marketing ==
Wan and Wilson teased plans for the film in a panel at the virtual DC FanDome event in August 2020. A year later, at DC FanDome 2021, concept art and behind-the-scenes footage from filming was revealed. In February 2022, the first footage from the film was released as part of a teaser for Warner Bros.' 2022 slate of DC films, which also included The Batman, Black Adam, and The Flash (before Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Flash were both delayed to 2023 in the following month). Wan promoted the film at Warner Bros.' CinemaCon panel in April 2022, showing a recorded message of Momoa as well as some brief footage from the film. He then revealed more concept art for the film when its release date was delayed in August. The first trailer was showcased during Warner Bros.' CinemaCon panel in April 2023, showing the "bromance" between Arthur and Orm amongst other footage. Steve Weintraub at Collider said the footage looked "absolutely massive in scale" and featured several action sequences. The first official public trailer was then released on September 15, 2023, three months before the film's release date, following a teaser three days prior. The cast were not able to participate in marketing during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, until the strike's conclusion in November. IWC Schaffhausen, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures, released an Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month diving watch, inspired by the watches worn by Abdul-Mateen II and Park in the film.
== Release ==
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom premiered on December 19, 2023, at a fan event screening at the Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles. This was noted by Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter for not having a red carpet event and after party, with Wan and Momoa attending after a series of blue carpet photo calls and small-scale fan events in London, Beijing, and Los Angeles. The film was released in China on December 20, and in the United States on December 22, in IMAX, 3D, 4DX, and ScreenX, among other premium large formats (PLFs). It was originally set for release on December 16, 2022, but was moved to March 17, 2023, when Warner Bros. adjusted its release schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the workload of visual effects vendors. It was then moved to December 25, 2023, when Warner Bros. Discovery was trying to spread out marketing and distribution costs, before moving forward to December 20, and then pushed back by two days to December 22.
== Box office ==
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom grossed $124.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $309.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $434.1 million. It is the highest-grossing DCEU film since the first Aquaman film, but grossed less than half of that film's box office revenue, though it is still the first DCEU film to be labelled a box office success since Shazam! (2019). Aidan Kelly of Collider estimated that the film needed to earn $305–355 million worldwide to break even, while /Film's Hannah Shaw-Williams thought it was unlikely that the film would break even during its theatrical run, even after surpassing a worldwide gross of $400 million.
In the United States and Canada, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was released alongside Migration, Anyone But You and The Iron Claw, and was projected to gross around $40 million in its four-day opening weekend. The film earned $13.7 million on its first day, including $4.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to have a traditional opening weekend of $27.7 million, the fourth-lowest of the DCEU, and the second-lowest among those films unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It then made $10.6 million on Christmas Day, for a four-day total of $38.3 million. In its second weekend the film made $19.5 million, a drop of 30%, finishing second at the box office behind holdover Wonka. The film earned $10.6 million and $5.3 million in the following two weekends, finishing in third and sixth respectively.
== Critical reception ==
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom garnered mixed-to-negative reception from critics and was generally considered a step down from its predecessor, though Momoa and Wilson's performances were praised. On Rotten Tomatoes, 34% of 202 critics' aggregated reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Jason Momoa remains a capable and committed leading man, but even DC diehards may feel that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom sticks to familiar waters." Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 42 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, tied with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Flash for the lowest of the DCEU, while PostTrak reported 69% of filmgoers gave it a positive score, with 50% saying they would definitely recommend the film.
== Future ==
In December 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Warner Bros. was considering ending the Aquaman film series and recasting Momoa as the character Lobo following Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In January 2023, Momoa stated that he would "always be Aquaman", but felt that he could also portray other characters. Later that month, DC Studios co-CEOs Gunn and Safran said there was potential for Momoa to reprise his role in the DCU, but a decision on the character had not been made. No actor would be playing multiple characters, so if they did cast Momoa as Lobo, he would not portray Aquaman in the DCU. Gunn confirmed that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, alongside The Flash, would lead into the DCU's first film, Superman (2025). Safran expressed interest in continuing to work with Momoa, either within the world of Aquaman or finding another character. He explained that they set a high bar for casting, and felt that Momoa's Aquaman was a perfect casting.
In September 2023, Gunn clarified that any DC media released before the first projects for the DCU in 2024 would not be canon to that franchise, leading commentators to question the possibility of a potential continuation moving forward. Wan said The Lost Kingdom would help set up a sequel and expressed interest in directing it after a long break. The following month, Variety reported that none of the main cast members from Zack Snyder's DCEU films would reprise their roles in the DCU, including Momoa as Aquaman. However, Momoa had reportedly been in talks to portray Lobo in either Superman or a solo film for the character.
Ahead of The Lost Kingdom's release in December 2023, Momoa said it could be his final performance as Aquaman, explaining that if the film was received well by audiences that a sequel could be possible, but he felt it was "not looking too good" for him reprising the role. The actor said he had a lot of ideas for the character, and indicated that a younger character, such as Aquaman's son Arthur Jr., could be featured in a potential third Aquaman film. He also said that he would not be replaced with a different actor as Aquaman. Safran said at that time that Momoa would "always have a home at DC" and that "we'll see what happens with him beyond" this film.
== Videos ==
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - Teaser
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - Trailer
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