Last year, the premiere of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was delayed and, now, we might have just found out why.
DC has often relied on test screenings to gauge the financial viability of a project. Batgirl was canceled partly because it tested poorly with audiences, so DC opted to just shelve the project in a bid to cut costs rather than risk a box office bomb. Black Adam also reportedly received low test scores, resulting in reshoots that added tens of millions to the overall cost. To make matters worse, the film still performed poorly at the box office despite the additional work done to improve test scores.
Having said that, a new report suggests that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has poor test screening scores.