Aquaman is going back to rule the seven kingdoms. Tonight Warner Bros.’ announced, in a totally unsurprising move they are finally moving forward with a sequel to 2018’s billion-dollar-grossing “Aquaman.” The studio has tapped David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who co-wrote the first movie, to begin penning a new installment.
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About the only surprise here is how long it took WB to announce a sequel and writer. The James Wan-directed “Aquaman” looked like a tsunami-sized hit back in December. The film cracked the $1 billion mark in the second week of January, and two weeks later had surpassed both of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films to become the highest grossing DC Film of all time worldwide. The film currently sits at $1.12 billion and it still in the domestic top ten after eight weeks in theaters.
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Johnson-McGoldrick had the first screenwriting credit on the film, followed by Will Beall who wrote “Gangster Squad” and an unmade “Justice League” film back in 2012. The story treatment was by Wan and former DC Films Creative Officer and DC Comics writer Geoff Johns. His credits include Wan’s “The Conjuring 2,” “Orphan” and the updated “Red Riding Hood” with Amanda Seyfried.
‘Aquaman’ Passes ‘Dark Knight Rises’ To Become Biggest WB Superhero Film Ever [Box Office]
An “Aquaman” spin-off was just announced last week. Wan and his producing partner Peter Safran hired newcomers Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald, to pen a “horror-tinged” spin-off of “The Trench,” the monstrous undersea creatures featured in one of the pivotal third-act set pieces in “Aquaman” and said to be a much more modestly budgeted affair (that sounds much like Wan’s horror spin-off cottage industry).
While Wan will produce, he is reportedly waiting for a completed “Aquaman 2” screenplay before he decides or not whether he will direct the next oceanic installment of the superhero franchise. “Aquaman” Warner Bros.’ first billion-dollar-grossing hit since “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012. [The Wrap]