Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | December 22, 2023 | David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (co-writer of first film) returns

[JustLurking]

Anedoctally from my area in Italy this will not even open at #1, Wonka is rolling it even on its opening day. If that's indicative of how things will be like in rest of Europe...welp.

[Mojoguy]

15 minutes ago, Borobudur said:

One big mistake WB made is allow this movie to come after Avatar 2. Not only that superhero fatigue hit harder now, it is also about the vast downgrade in term of CGI quality between two is too glaring.  

Wakada Forever and TLM were also hurt badly  by coming out after Way of Water with the constant comparisons.

 

The first Aquaman was lucky as hell coming out before Avatar.

 

Aquaman 2 probably would have done much better being released sometime in 2022, before the collapse of superhero genre this year was started in motion by Quantumania.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Mojoguy

[TMP]

13 minutes ago, filmlover said:

Kidman being nowhere isn't overly a surprise since she's filling the "screen legend collecting a paycheck" void here but Yayha is playing the main villain in this and doesn't seem to be doing any interviews? Guess we'll find out when the embargo ends if they had a good reason to just cut their losses and move on.

Only silver lining to his Wonder Man show getting shitcanned is that Yahya only has one embarrassing comic book disaster on the way instead of two!

[Borobudur]

3 minutes ago, Mojoguy said:

Wakada Forever and TLM were also hurt badly  by coming out after Way of Water with the constant comparisons.

 

The first Aquaman was lucky as hell coming out before Avatar.

 

Aquaman probably would have done much better being released sometime in 2022, before the collapse of superhero genre this year was started in motion by Quantumania.

Yeah, the first Aquaman released during the peak of Superhero genre. And that was before people realised the underwater scene can be this hyper-reaslistic and not plastic-looking. Once they seen what can be achieved during ATOW, there is no turning back. And it is not like this round the aquaman coming any better in term of story as compared to ATOW.

 

 

[Arlborn]

When talking about the lack of actors doing press stuff for this, I think it’s a good idea to keep in mind the Amber Heard situation, as well as the end of the DCU situation.

 

Definitely awkward topics to come up in an interview.

 

Maybe that’s the reason why all I have seen from them promoting it so far is stuff where they could stay more in control of what was being said, like the SNL hosting, the puppies skit, etc

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Arlborn

[BadOlCatSylvester]

Purely anectodal, but here at my big chain mall theater it has sold a whopping 7 tickets across 5 shows on opening day that are on sale right now. And all 7 of those are for the 10 PM show. This result is atrocious for a superhero tentpole 3 days out, as there are usually a decent amount of seats in the middle sold out by then, as I remember the case being for The Batman here.

[TigerPaw]

29 minutes ago, Mojoguy said:

Wakada Forever and TLM were also hurt badly  by coming out after Way of Water with the constant comparisons.

 

The first Aquaman was lucky as hell coming out before Avatar.

 

Aquaman 2 probably would have done much better being released sometime in 2022, before the collapse of superhero genre this year was started in motion by Quantumania.

Wakanda Forever came out a month before Avatar 2 though.. Not after.

[Mojoguy]

9 minutes ago, BadOlCatSylvester said:

Purely anectodal, but here at my big chain mall theater it has sold a whopping 7 tickets across 5 shows on opening day that are on sale right now. And all 7 of those are for the 10 PM show. This result is atrocious for a superhero tentpole 3 days out, as there are usually a decent amount of seats in the middle sold out by then, as I remember the case being for The Batman here.

I'm looking forward to being the only person sitting in my theater showing watching Aquman on Christmas day. Sounds really relaxing.

[Mojoguy]

2 minutes ago, TigerPaw said:

Wakanda Forever came out a month before Avatar 2 though.. Not after.

You are right, but the Avatar 2 trailers were out by then. There were still comparisons between the 2.

 

Wakanda underwater scenes were so dark we couldn't really see anything.

[Borobudur]

4 minutes ago, Mojoguy said:

You are right, but the Avatar 2 trailers were out by then. There were still comparisons between the 2.

 

Wakanda underwater scenes were so dark we couldn't really see anything.

But I remember there was so praise to the VFX of WF. It is only the real movie that praise go away. Whereas the first Atow teaser actually got some mixed reaction in regard to the VFX but the subsequent trailer and actual movie blow everyone mind away. 

[MysteryMovieMogul]

I don't think Avatar 2 has anything to do with Aquaman 2's upcoming failure. But I also don't think Avatar 2 affected TLM or Wakanda much, either.

 

I think we're just seeing the culture rejecting superhero films and Warner Brothers reacting by cutting their losses.

 

Let's face it. Every studio is floundering a bit. Even A24 is being forced to change their game plan. This isn't a Disney problem. This isn't a Warner Brothers problem. This is an everyone problem. 

[Old Spice]

Tis a sad time for an Atlantean when the kingdom is in such rubble, but the way WB has treated this I have zero expectations going in, so at least I can't be disappointed. At the very least, it promises some good eye candy.

 

R.I.P., DCEU, and thanks for WW, Shazam, BOP, The Suicide Squad, ZSJL, Flash, and Blue Beetle. And here's to the DCU. I am eager to see what James has up his sleeve for my all-time favorite pop culture character. (And his cousin, too... Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is insanely cinematic.)

 

Happy Holidays everyone!

Edited December 19, 2023 by A Star is Delayed

[Issac Newton]

China

 

343 Positive Reviews (7 Negative Reviews) ~ @Maoyan

 

Midnight Screenings Reviews are pouring now!

[Bob Train]

4 minutes ago, Issac Newton said:

China

 

343 Positive Reviews (7 Negative Reviews) ~ @Maoyan

 

Midnight Screenings Reviews are pouring now!

I wonder if this can finally break DCEU B CinemaScore streak.

 

It won't save it from flopping (and at this point, the DCEU has so much baggage that obtaining that high of a CinemaScore is hard, as we saw with Blue Beetle), but would be funny.

[titanic2187]

 

1 hour ago, Borobudur said:

Yeah, the first Aquaman released during the peak of Superhero genre. And that was before people realised the underwater scene can be this hyper-reaslistic and not plastic-looking. Once they seen what can be achieved during ATOW, there is no turning back. And it is not like this round the aquaman coming any better in term of story as compared to ATOW.

 

 

 

I agree Aquaman 2, TLM and WF suffered some criticism under mighty VFX craft of ATOW but the bigger issue lies here are superhero fatigue. Even if Aquaman 2's VFX is terrible, the most people will do is mock the movie for sub-par VFX, there won't be any big scale rejection like now. The first BP famously feature some awful VFX but still made $1.3bn WW.

[titanic2187]

2 hours ago, Mojoguy said:

Utter REJECTION!

 

We are witnessing the destruction of the entire superhero film genre in 2023! What time to be alive!

 

It is funny to see there is still doubt the fatigue isn't here just early this year.

 

 

 

[Lucas]

I was not planning on it taking this long to get back here but that's what happens lol. The old 50-60s sci-fi inspired visuals go a long way but it's too clear to me that the movie has been chewed up and spit out multiple times. It's not the disaster it should've been, but it's also not the fun popcorn adventure it could've been - either of them would've been more interesting results. Having rewatched the first one not long ago, I don't think any of the action sequences top the best from the original, and while the glimpses of Wan's horror touch are nice, again none of them top the trench scene. A lot of it is a very routine sequel, it's hardly giving you a reason to root for it. I love James Wan and I doubt either he or Warner Bros. are invested in what this film ended up being, and the audience will probably agree. But let's make a horror movie next!

Edited December 19, 2023 by Lucas

[Nicson]

10 minutes ago, titanic2187 said:

 

 

 

All those different genres, yet you constantly revert to the same exact "3rd act" syndrome that plagued your movies for years

[Napoleon]

17 minutes ago, Lucas said:

I was not planning on it taking this long to get back here but that's what happens lol. The old 50-60s sci-fi inspired visuals go a long way but it's too clear to me that the movie has been chewed up and spit out multiple times. It's not the disaster it should've been, but it's also not the fun popcorn adventure it could've been - either of them would've been more interesting results. Having rewatched the first one not long ago, I don't think any of the action sequences top the best from the original, and while the glimpses of Wan's horror touch are nice, again none of them top the trench scene. A lot of it is a very routine sequel, it's hardly giving you a reason to root for it. I love James Wan and I doubt either he or Warner Bros. are invested in this film ended up being, and the audience will probably agree. But let's make a horror movie next!

How much screentime does Mera have? 

[ThomasNicole]

17 minutes ago, Lucas said:

I was not planning on it taking this long to get back here but that's what happens lol. The old 50-60s sci-fi inspired visuals go a long way but it's too clear to me that the movie has been chewed up and spit out multiple times. It's not the disaster it should've been, but it's also not the fun popcorn adventure it could've been - either of them would've been more interesting results. Having rewatched the first one not long ago, I don't think any of the action sequences top the best from the original, and while the glimpses of Wan's horror touch are nice, again none of them top the trench scene. A lot of it is a very routine sequel, it's hardly giving you a reason to root for it. I love James Wan and I doubt either he or Warner Bros. are invested in this film ended up being, and the audience will probably agree. But let's make a horror movie next!

This is what i’m expecting tbh. 
 

Cool visuals and action, but nothing great or awful in it. I’m fine with this, it’s enough for 2 hours of my life considering the Frankenstein that this production was.
 

Let’s see the reviews, i can see awful reception because at this point everyone is tired and the movie isn’t great, but maybe it’ll be another The Marvels situation that everyone expected the worst movie ever and the reception was simply boringly mixed.