'Furious 7' Director James Wan to Helm 'Aquaman'
By Borys Kit
James Wan has closed his deal to develop and direct Aquaman, Warner Bros.’ superhero movie that will star Jason Momoa and that is part of its DC Entertainment cinematic universe.
At the same time, Wan has also closed his deal to helm Robotech, Sony’s adaptation of the 1980s anime featuring mechas.
The moves clear up Wan’s post-Furious 7 future. The filmmaker became a hot property after his deft handling on the challenging production and after the movie became a runaway success, with over $1.4 billion in global box office receipts.
Wan is also committed to directing The Conjuring 2: The Endfield Experiment for New Line this fall and will likely be unavailable to tackle his next project until spring 2016.
Aquaman is looking like the first sea horse out of the gate as it’s further along in the development process. Wan will also be overseeing the script’s writing by scribe Kurt Johnstad. It’s a testament to the strength of the desire to work with Wan that both studios are willing to wait for him.
In Aquaman, Momoa is portraying the underwater breathing hero and will make his appearance as the character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Aquaman is also a card-carrying member of DC’s premiere superhero team, the Justice League, and will be part of Warners’ two-part Justice League movies.
The movie will focus on Aquaman as a reluctant ruler of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis who is caught between land dwellers that are always polluting the globe and his own people who are ready to invade the surface.
“The Aquaman film will be a major tentpole picture for us and James’s span of work has proven him able to take on any manner of project, bringing his incredible creative talent and unique voice to the material,” said Greg Silverman, the studio’s president, creative development and worldwide production.
Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder and Zack Snyder are producing Aquaman.
Wan is repped by Paradigm, Stacey Testro International and Myman Greenspan.
