Industry consultant Katherine Arnold testifies that Jason Momoa and Aquaman 2 director James Wan fought to keep Amber Heard in the DC movie.
A new witness in the star's ongoing defamation trial has revealed that Jason Momoa, Aquaman, and Lost Kingdom director James Wan fought to keep Amber Heard in the film. Heard and Momoa return for the DC Extended Universe sequel alongside Aquaman co-stars Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teemoira Morrison, Nicole Kidman, and Randall Park. James Wan is back to lead Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom with a script written by original co-writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick on tackling the story he developed with Momoa.
Development in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has seen a series of starts and stops with Wan wanting to spend his time developing the sequel rather than making a hasty product and having to beat the COVID-19 pandemic during production. With post-production on the film's visual effects taking longer than expected due to the aforementioned global lockdown, the release date of Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom has been pushed back from its original December 2022 release date, switching places with the much-anticipated Shazam! Wrath of the Gods and moving on to March 2023. The last hurdle for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has emerged in the form of Amber Heard's ongoing defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp, and more details of the conflicts have arisen behind the scenes.
As the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard continues, industry insider Katherine Arnold has shared new details regarding the extent of Heard's role in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom (via The Wrap). Arnold testified that Heard was not invited to participate in the film's poster shoot and was told that she was not allowed to attend this year's DC FanDome event, although it is indicated that her role in the film is currently safe thanks to the efforts of the subscribers. Stars Jason Momoa and director James Wan. See what Arnold said below:
"Miss. Heard was not invited to either be on the poster or to participate in the [FanDome] event, and in fact, they told her she couldn't attend. In February 2021, there were conversations that Amber had, I'll be technical with you, and her option to hire wasn't available. So they might not have hired her again. Her management team fought so hard and eventually ended up hiring her, but not just because of what her management did, but also because of the commitment of star Jason Momoa and director James Wan to her."
Arnold's testimony that Momoa and Wan fought to keep Heard in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom aligns with most of the actress' allegations during the trial. Heard testified that Warner Bros. actively sought to be cut from the DCEU sequel even before production, with the studio initially refusing to choose its contract option due to concerns over her chemistry with Momoa and the media surrounding the trial. Heard recently stated at Trial that WB had sought to scale back her role in Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom and had expressed concerns that she might be cut off from the film entirely after being released from her contract with the studio.
Throughout the trial, Momoa and Wan remained very much in the dark regarding the situation and how it might affect the final severance of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. With the defamation trial in the final week, DC Films president Walter Hamadeh is said to be testifying in defense of the studio and denying Heard's allegations that it was cut from the upcoming sequel. Only time will tell how the trial affected her role in the movie when Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom appeared in cinemas on March 17, 2023.