Forget reshoots: ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ might have its release date changed, again

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, a film that has been subject to multiple release date changes due to the coronavirus pandemic and a regime change at Warner Bros., may be facing yet another schedule shuffle.

Duel Hollywood strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are causing additional production problems for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. WB is now mulling a new release date for the Aquaman sequel — once again — as “the result of striking unions SAG-AFTRA and the [WGA], at war with showbusiness producers for new contracts,” according to Variety.

This all comes after production for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom got bogged down recently due to casting changes for Batman in DC’s rapidly changing continuity. As a result, both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton reportedly shot scenes for the movie as Batman — but both cameos were eventually cut. This is in part due to the plot of The Flash changing several times throughout its production.

None of this news is boding well for The Lost Kingdom, which is a real shame because the Jason Momoa-starring Aquaman still stands as the DC Extended Universe’s highest-grossing film at more than $1 billion, which it earned at the worldwide box office when it was released back in 2018. 

Other movies that may see date changes from WB include major blockbusters such as Dune Part 2 potentially getting pushed to next year the musical version of The Color Purple, the report said.

Until we hear an official date change announcement from the studio itself, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is still on the books for coming out to theaters on Dec. 20, 2023.