Australian filmmaker James Wan has had quite the career. After building himself up as a horror movie staple with ‘Saw’, ‘Insidious’, and ‘The Conjuring’, he took the reins of the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise from Justin Lin and delivered the most successful installment in terms of box office revenue and critical acclaim with ‘Furious 7’. Now, after firmly establishing his skills with those popular series, Wan is making the jump to the DC Universe.
Deadline reports that Wan has closed a deal with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment to direct ‘Aquaman’, the King of Atlantis’ solo film set for 2018 starring Jason Momoa of ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Conan The Barbarian’. In addition to helming the project, he’ll oversee the development of the script by ‘300’ and ‘Act of Valor’ writer Kurt Johnstad. WB’s Greg Silverman issued a statement regarding the hiring of Wan:
“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.”
Unique voice is right! Judging by his resume that shows off his ability to work in multiple genres, Wan can handle pretty much whatever is handed to him. He’ll need that ability too since he’s been given the DC hero that is frequently seen as the butt of many jokes. But with this new version of Aquaman that will debut in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, maybe Wan will be able to change the public’s perception of one of the Justice League’s founding members.
Currently, Wan is committed to direct ‘The Conjuring 2: The Endfield Experiment’ for New Line. Additionally, it’s been said that he’s landed the big screen adaptation of ‘Robotech’, so the director may not be available until spring of 2016. WB must want him really bad if they’re locking him in this early in the game. Hopefully it’ll pay off in the end.
What do you think about James Wan directing ‘Aquaman’? Are you surprised by this hire by Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment? And do you think that this acclaimed young filmmaker has what it takes to change people’s minds about the King of Atlantis? Let us know in the comments.
