Jason Momoa says he can’t start shooting “Aquaman 2″… because he “got run over by a bulldozer” while protesting construction of a giant telescope on land considered sacred to native Hawaiians.
“Sorry Warner Bros we can’t shoot ‘Aquaman 2,’” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Because Jason got run over by a bulldozer trying to stop the desecration of his native land THIS iS NOT HAPPENING. WE ARE NOT LETTING YOU DO THIS ANYMORE. Enough is enough. Go somewhere else.”
In a followup post, Momoa asked fans to support the protest movement, writing, “During this time, we are trying to unite both kānaka and Hawai’i born peoples alike to protect not only the mauna, but also our way of life and greatest natural resources in Hawaii as a whole.”
Momoa has spent several weeks protesting on the highest point on the state of Hawaii, Mauna Kea, in an effort to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), a $1.4 billion scientific project underwritten by a group of universities in California and Canada as well as partners in China, India and Japan.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also has been protesting the construction of the telescope last month, he made a surprise visit to the dormant volcano.
“Obviously, I’ve been following this for years now — more so as everything has been amping up more recently — but when you come here to Mauna Kea you realize it bigger than a telescope,” Johnson said, according to Hawaii News Now. “It’s humanity. It’s a culture. It is people, Polynesian people, who are willing to die here to protect this land. This very sacred land.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the volcano top was selected as site of the telescope in 2009. In 2014, protesters disrupted the blessing ceremony, and in 2015 protesters were arrested for blocking access to the remote site, causing construction to stop. A few months later, there were more arrests and crews had to be pulled back. Hawaii’s Supreme Court has ruled that the construction is legal.
Of course, Momoa has contractual obligations to Warner Bros. to begin production on “Aquaman 2,” which is slated to hit theaters on Dec. 16, 2022. The first film grossed $1.15 billion at the worldwide box office and was directed by James Wan.
See Momoa’s Instagram post below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B07NOZJgCW2/?utm_source=ig_embed