Taking the stand on May 24, president of DC Films Walter Hamada testified that Amber Heard can only blame her lack of chemistry with “Aquaman” costar Jason Momoa for her reduced screentime in the upcoming sequel. “They didn’t really have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada told Heard’s lawyer under cross-examination. “The reality is, it’s not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry. And then it’s sort of movie magic and… a great score and how you put the pieces together.” However, Hamada stated, while “they look like they have great chemistry[,] I just know that through the course of the post-production, it took a lot of effort to get there.”
Heard retained her $2 million paycheck for the film’s sequel, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” per Variety. However, as she previously claimed in court, Warner Bros. “basically took a bunch out of my role” following her abuse allegations, per IndieWire. Hamada testified to the contrary, maintaining that Heard’s role remained constant since pre-production in 2018. “A big part of our philosophy was we were going to hold people to their options,” Hamada said.
Heard’s agent also testified earlier in the trial that the actor was never given the opportunity to renegotiate for a higher salary after “Aquaman”‘s blockbuster success. Hamada disputed this as well, stating that he made it a point to not let actors automatically renegotiate salaries for sequels.
