Next December will be released the very last production of the polyptych responsible for concluding the Snyderverse with Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom. Warner seems to be in a nice negative spiral since Shazam: Rage of the Gods ($133 million in revenue) And The Flash (267 million revenue) were difficult financial fiascos, resulting in deadweight losses for the studio amounting to several hundred million dollars. Aquaman 2 may not be an exception to the rule. After the first catastrophic returns from the test screenings, the Warner Bros. Discovery sponsored emergency reshoots for the feature film, thus increasing the note. What’s more, the 1.148 billion dollars of the first film might not be achieved due to the lack of curiosity about the universe ofArthur Curry.
Not to mention the significant cost of reshoots, comicbook.com reports that the budget ofAquaman 2 is of $205 million. We could easily reach the 350 million if we add reshoots and marketing.
Lost Kingdom is already an expensive production. It was greenlit on a $205 million budget and shot during the pandemic, which was a costly expense for tentpole productions. Additionally, every frame of the film involves visual effects, another major cost. Retakes have only increased this overall budget.
Which would then mean that the film must, at the very least, collect close to 700 million to be considered profitable. A threshold probably difficult to reach since rare are the productions of the DCUs to have exceeded this amount – There was only the first Aquaman by James Wan, Wonder Woman by Patty Jenkins or Suicide Squad by David Ayer. Aquaman 2 is positioned for an exit at December 20, 2023.