The damage is probably done here regardless of if the change is for the better. Reported budget of this was already apparently $90mil, that's obviously going to balloon by changing the entire CG of the main character, and even if it's good the director's already on record as admitting to a fuckup with the project that required going back to the drawing board. As much as "listening to the audience" is deservedly championed as the right thing to do, there are some who will be turned off by hearing the creator admit to making a mistake months before it's even released, and I can definitely believe that will have a noticeable effect on its chances of having a good box office run