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Catching up with Aquaman
director James Wan
By Iain Blair
Director James Wan has become one of the biggest names in Hollywood thanks to his $1.5 billion-grossing Furious 7, as well as the Saw, Conjuring and Insidious films — three of the most successful horror franchises of the last decade.
Now the Malaysian-born, Australian-raised Wan, who also writes and produces, has taken on the challenge of bringing Aquaman and Atlantis to life. The origin story of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry stars Jason Momoa in the title role. Amber Heard plays Mera, a fierce warrior and Aquaman’s ally throughout his journey.
Additional cast includes Willem Dafoe as Vulko, council to the Atlantean throne; Patrick Wilson as Orm, the present King of Atlantis; Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, King of the Atlantean tribe Xebel; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the revenge-seeking Manta; and Nicole Kidman as Arthur’s mom, Atlanna.
Wan’s team behind the scenes included such collaborators as Oscar-nominated director of photography Don Burgess (Forrest Gump), his five-time editor Kirk Morri (The Conjuring), production designer Bill Brzeski (Iron Man 3), visual effects supervisor Kelvin McIlwain (Furious 7) and composer Rupert Gregson-Williams (Wonder Woman).
I spoke with the director about making the film, dealing with all the visual effects and his workflow.
Aquaman is definitely not your usual comic book hero or superhero movie. What was the appeal of doing a film like this?
I didn’t grow up with Aquaman, but I grew up with other comic books, and I always was well aware of him, as he’s iconic. A big part of the appeal for me was he’d never really been done before — not on the big screen and not really on TV. He’s never had the spotlight before. The other big clincher was this gave me the opportunity to do a world-creation film, to build a unique world we’ve never seen before. I loved the idea of creating this big fantasy world underwater.
So you didn’t get the Jim Cameron memo — never, ever shoot in water?
(Laughs) I know, but to do this we unfortunately had to get really wet, as over two-thirds of the film is set underwater.
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