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

[Bob Train]

2 hours ago, dallas said:

But even Migration didn't increase from its Friday and Wonka decreased from projections as well, despite both having great WOM. 

The last time we had this calendar config (2017), Saturday jumps were similarly very muted, even the kids movies (Ferdinand and Coco) only pulled Saturday jumps of +8.5% and +19.3% respectively. It appears that Christmas Eve being on a Sunday mutes the Saturday bumps for whatever reason.

[Dominic Draper]

On 12/22/2023 at 8:39 AM, dallas said:

I think the fans are just ready for the DCU at this point, and Aquaman didn't do anything but reinforce that. 

Doubt it. DCU is going to Flop hard if I was a betting man.

[Mulder]

4 hours ago, Dominic Draper said:

This wasn't good. It was messy, sloppy, hacked to bits in post. There's about 5 action sequences in the first better than anything in this.

 

The CG in this had ant man 3 syndrome where it all just looked like messy sludge that blended together.

 

I don't know why but I got the feeling Momoa was drunk during filming this. His face was puffy and he was obnoxious. He wasn't aquaman in this, he was Momoa on a bender. Reminded me of Shazam 2 where the worst thing about the film is the lead.

 

A big character gets an offscreen death from some some seemingly big event happening that gets referenced by a single line and then its never followed up on again. Just vanishes from the film, likely cut out in post.

 

Mera is in scenes but has almost no dialogue very evident she was cut around in post.

 

The best parts of the films are Patrick Wilson who does his best with an awful script, and the cool 50s sci fi aesthetic.

 

The film it most reminded me of was JL2017. A film ripped apart and stitched back together.

 

4/10

 

Don't want to celebrity gossip but from what I've heard this is true for at least some of it.

[ThomasNicole]

This was so fun lol 

 

I think a lot of beloved hero movies are actually meh and highly unimaginative, but i have such a sweet spot for highly messy CBM’s like DS2, Eternals and this 

 

Yeah first act absolutely dreadful i even fell asleep, script? garbage, really bizarre editing 

 

Still once Patrick Wilson shows up and the movie simply became Journey To The Center Of The Earth the whole thing became so trash like that 60’s fantasy low budget movies that i just couldn’t hate it. It’s earnest, funny and highly entertaining. 
 

Also liked the lord of the rings fanmovie this turn out to be in the third act. Also beautiful visually, frequently with gorgeous lightning (rarity for CBM movies), very creative creature designs that I love so much and highly stylized direction from Wan as usual which i always love. 
 

Action could’ve been better but it’s not bad. Anyway i would love to see the movie before the chaos started in post production, but still not really disappointed with it. 
 

6.5 or 7 out of 10

Edited December 24, 2023 by ThomasNicole

[dallas]

 

[HummingLemon496]

On 12/19/2023 at 10:31 PM, WorkingonaName said:

Sub $200M

 

Bet

I think you lost the bet 

[DInky]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like Aquaman and The Marvels made almost the same amount internationally (excluding China).

 

The Marvels WW opening weekend = 109.4M (46.1M domestic + 11.7M China + 51.6 other markets)

Aquaman 2 WW opening weekend = 108.2M (28.1M domestic + 30.4M China + 49.7M other markets)

 

So right now even if the movie collapses as badly as The Marvels in both NA and in overseas markets (unlikely with holidays), China alone will guarantee that it will finish above The Marvels.

Edited December 24, 2023 by DInky

[Super]

2 minutes ago, DInky said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like Aquaman and The Marvels made almost the same amount internationally (excluding China).

 

The Marvels WW opening weekend = 109.4M (46.1M domestic + 11.7M China + 51.6 other markets)

Aquaman 2 WW opening weekend = 108.2M (28.1M domestic + 30.4M China + 49.7M other markets)

 

So right now even if the movie collapses as badly as The Marvels in both NA and in overseas markets (unlikely with holidays), China alone will guarantee that it will finish above The Marvels.

 

Also I think The Marvels had a few more markets that Aquaman has yet to open in, namely Australia and Japan. 

[TigerPaw]

2 hours ago, DInky said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like Aquaman and The Marvels made almost the same amount internationally (excluding China).

 

The Marvels WW opening weekend = 109.4M (46.1M domestic + 11.7M China + 51.6 other markets)

Aquaman 2 WW opening weekend = 108.2M (28.1M domestic + 30.4M China + 49.7M other markets)

 

So right now even if the movie collapses as badly as The Marvels in both NA and in overseas markets (unlikely with holidays), China alone will guarantee that it will finish above The Marvels.

But Aquaman had a Christmas Eve Sunday overseas as well which depressed OW - so not apples-to-apples, meaning legs in the weekdays (incl Christmas) will be stronger.

[dallas]

Just saw the movie... it's pretty good. About on par with the first movie IMO. The hate is way overblown. 

[SpiderByte]

 

[Mad Max007]

This was so bad lol. Prefer the first one a lot more but enjoyed it more than every other DCEU movie released this year.

[Mojoguy]

On 12/25/2023 at 4:21 AM, SpiderByte said:

 

What's with all this nepotism in casting? First James Gunn's wife in Peacemaker and now this?

Edited December 28, 2023 by Mojoguy

[efialtes76]

3 hours ago, Mad Max007 said:

This was so bad lol. Prefer the first one a lot more but enjoyed it more than every other DCEU movie released this year.

Why is so bad?

Explain it to me...

[Mad Max007]

18 minutes ago, efialtes76 said:

Why is so bad?

Explain it to me...

Where do I even start lmao. They fumbled something as basic as the villain who was set up in the last movie. The script was horrendous in every possible way, the characters had zero development. The pacing is atrocious, it's clear lot of it was reshot or they tried to remove Amber so bad at one part. There's no real bond between Aquabro and his Bro? The wackiness from the first movie is completely lost.

[dallas]

4 hours ago, Mojoguy said:

What's with all this nepotism in casting? First James Gunn's wife in Peacemaker and now this?

Bruh

[Veclozy]

DCEU is really gonna end with more flops than hits, insane achievement for a long running franchise

[HummingLemon496]

2 hours ago, Veclozy said:

DCEU is really gonna end with more flops than hits, insane achievement for a long running franchise

And honestly only WW84 gets a legit pandemic asterisk. It would've been a certified box office hit in normal times

Edited December 28, 2023 by HummingLemon496

[Speedorito]

2 hours ago, Veclozy said:

DCEU is really gonna end with more flops than hits, insane achievement for a long running franchise

To be fair, most franchises wouldn’t be allowed to last this long. One of the downsides of a cinematic universe is having to greenlight a bunch of stuff to come out within a short period. Even if you pull the plug you still have 3 or 4 things in the pipeline.

[Macleod]

1 hour ago, HummingLemon496 said:

And honestly only WW84 gets a legit pandemic asterisk. It would've been a certified box office hit in normal times

Hmmmmmmmmmm..............................