Are we going to get a #ReleaseTheWanCut movement? Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom star Dolph Lundgren confirmed what everyone already assumed during an interview this week — that the version currently in theaters is not the original cut that filmmaker James Wan had planned. Speaking with ComicBook.com in support of his new movie Wanted Man, Lundgren admitted that he is disappointed fans did not get to see the version he first saw. The actor, who also co-wrote and directed Wanted Man, presumably has something of an investment in filmmakers getting to make their version of the movie.
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Lundgren has previously said that he had a bigger role in the early cut, but he doesn’t take it personally that his role was trimmed down, blaming corporate machinations. He said that his reduced role was directly tied to the reduced role for Mera (Amber Heard), since Lundgren was playing Mera’s father.
“I just realized that it was some kind of corporate decision that they try to limit Amber Heard and then I’m playing with her dad and went along with it,” Lundgren explained. “I was just disappointed for the moviegoers, because I thought the original script was great and the original cut — I saw a little bit of it, it was really good, so I didn’t see any reason to start reshooting and reshaping the story, which obviously led to disappointment in the moviegoers and not just me.”
In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrived in theaters on December 22nd, when an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will see the return of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, and Randall Park as Stephen Shin. Jani Zhao will play new character Stingray, Indya Moore will play Karshon, and Vincent Regan will play Atlan, who was previously portrayed by Graham McTavish in Aquaman.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is directed by James Wan, with a script from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Producers include Wan and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran.
Wanted Man releases on digital on Friday, January 19th.
In the film, which Lundgren directed, the star plays Johansen, an aging detective, whose outdated policing methods have given the department a recent public relations problem. To save his job, he is sent to Mexico to extradite a female witness (Christina Villa) to the murders of two DEA agents. Once there, he finds not only his old opinions challenged, but that bad hombres on both sides of the border are now gunning for him and his witness.
