There would never, ever have Aquaman 2 without Amber Heard. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom producer Peter Safran were asked today if the hashtag campaign by Johnny Depp supporters to get Amber Heard removed from the DC sequel had any impact on the filming and personnel selections.
Peter Safran On Aquaman 2 & Amber Heard
“I don’t think we’re ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure, you gotta do what’s best for the movie, we felt that if it’s James Wan and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. That’s really what it was,” said Safran whose James Gunn The Suicide Squad movie hits theaters and HBO Max on Aug. 6.
“One is not unaware of what is going on in the Twitter-verse, but that doesn’t mean you have to react to it or take it as gospel or accede to their wishes,” said Safran, “You have to do what’s right for the film, and that’s really where we landed on it.”
James Wan, the director of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, confirmed on Instagram on June 28 that work on the sequel to the $1.1 billion-grossing top DC picture of all time has begun. The #JusticeForJohnnyDepp gang on Twitter was re-ignited as a result of this. Fans of Depp called for Heard’s expulsion from Aquaman 2 after the formerly-married couple made explosive charges of domestic abuse against each other in the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s libel lawsuit against The Sun in the United Kingdom. The actor’s suit was dismissed by the court, which sided with The Sun’s claims against him.
Upon The Sun’s decision, Warner Bros. dropped Depp from the third Fantastic Beasts film, replacing him with Mads Mikkelsen as the wicked wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Lawsuit
Amber Heard tackled the demonstrations against her by Depp followers in a November interview with EW, stating, “Paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media don’t dictate casting decisions because they have no basis in reality…Only the fans actually made Aquaman and Aquaman 2 happen. I’m excited to get started next year.”
In a $50 million defamation claim filed by Depp in 2019, the erstwhile Rum Diary co-stars and married couple are entangled in yet another legal battle on this side of the Atlantic. Heard, who filed a $100 million countersuit against her ex-husband, and Depp are set to go to trial in April.
