'Aquaman' director explains the challenges of underwater scenes

Aquaman is proving to be a complicated film to shoot for obvious reasons. Director James Wan, who is determined to use the actors as much as possible instead of CG effects, explained how the underwater sequences have caused some hurdles.

“It’s a very technically challenging shoot to be on,” Wan told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview for Annabelle: Creation, the latest Conjuring spin-off he produced. “Working with water, and even the dry-for-wet sequences are very complex.”

He added, “Our equivalent of two people sitting around chatting in the underwater world is super complicated. You have to think about CG with the hair, and how their clothing moves, how are they floating, what kind of rig we put them on and all that stuff.”

Warner Bros. gave fans at San Diego Comic-Con a preview of what this will look like. The first footage from the film revealed Jason Momoa as the Atlantian ruler and an underwater shot of Ocean Master’s army. Wan’s Conjuring actor Patrick Wilson will portray Ocean Master, Aquaman’s villainous brother.

The Justice League trailers offered more sneak peeks at the world of Atlantis as Momoa and costar Amber Heard, playing Queen Mera, will appear in the event film later this year.

Filming on Aquaman continues in Australia with a cast that also includes Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

On Friday, Wan shared photos revealing he’s “finally filming at the lighthouse set.” In the comics, this lighthouse was located in Amnesty Bay off the coast of northern Maine and served as the home of the Curry family. Fisherman Tom Curry discovers Aquaman as a boy and raises him as a son.

Aquaman will open in theaters on Dec. 21, 2018.