Warner Bros. has turned down a reshoot request for this summer's upcoming DC movie Blue Beetle.
In 2023, DC is unveiling four superhero films, all of which have undergone development under three different studio regimes, starting with AT&T's WarnerMedia, then Warner Bros. Discovery, and now DC Studios under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom have all adapted to these changes throughout their production processes.
The Hollywood Reporter recently released an article delving into the incredibly tumultuous development of Aquaman 2, revealing that the team behind this summer's Blue Beetle movie requested two days of reshoots, but Warner Bros. turned down their request.
On the other hand, the studio did permit five days of reshoots for Aquaman 2 after DC Studios CEO James Gunn provided his input on the troubled latest cut.
Blue Beetle has experienced numerous changes throughout its journey to release. Initially developed and written before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger in April 2022, it was filmed under the leadership of David Zaslav from May to July 2022. Now, it will be released under the banner of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Studios.
Originally conceived as an HBO Max original movie within the declining DCEU, Blue Beetle will now become the first entry in Gunn and Safran's new DCU.
The decision by Warner Bros. to decline reshoots for Blue Beetle might signal the studio's low expectations for its box office performance. Conversely, the same studio greenlit five days of reshoots for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the sequel to 2018's billion-dollar-grossing Aquaman (the only film in DC history to do so).
Considering Shazam 2 and The Flash faced box office disappointments, possibly influenced by James Gunn's upcoming reboot, many anticipate that both Blue Beetle and Aquaman 2 may encounter a similar fate.
Whether the rejected reshoots could have improved Blue Beetle remains uncertain, but given their short duration of just two days, they likely had minimal impact on the story.
Blue Beetle is a highly anticipated superhero film from DC Studios and the Safran Company, based on the DC Comics character Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, it is slated to be the 14th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film features a talented cast including Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle, alongside
Bruna Marquezine, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez.
After Jaime Reyes graduates from college and returns to his hometown Palmera City, he is chosen to become a symbiotic host to the Scarab, an ancient alien biotechnological relic that grants him a powerful exoskeleton armor, turning him into the superhero Blue Beetle.
Blue Beetle is scheduled to hit theaters on August 18.