Mario Bava’s 1965 sci-fi classic, “Planet of the Vampires,” is said to be one of the biggest influences on Ridley Scott’s iconic “Alien” franchise. Well, nearly 50 years after its release, it appears ‘Vampires’ is going to inspire yet another major blockbuster— “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”
According to an interview with James Wan in TotalFilm, the director of the “Aquaman” and its forthcoming sequel, ‘The Lost Kingdom,’ credits “Planet of the Vampires” as being a huge influence on the film.
“‘Aquaman 2’ is very heavily inspired by ‘Planet of the Vampires,’” Wan said. “You can take the boy out of horror but you can never take the horror out the boy.”
Obviously, Wan comes from a horror background, having famously helming “The Conjuring” and various other scary movies over the past couple of decades. So, it’s not surprising that “Planet of the Vampires” would be an influence. However, it does make you wonder just how dark ‘The Lost Kingdom’ is bound to be, especially after most of the first “Aquaman” film is a bright, colorful, somewhat silly action film?
“Planet of the Vampires” is a famous film about two spaceships that find themselves stranded on a mysterious, uncharted planet where the spectral inhabitants end up possessing the bodies of the dead crew and attempting to murder the survivors. Not necessarily the first thing you think about when imagining an “Aquaman” sequel, but who knows?
“Well, the first movie took a lot of people by surprise, right? And that’s partially because they were not familiar with the comic book, which deals in this very lurid, strange world,” Wan explained about the darker influence. “People were taken aback that I didn’t throw all that stuff away and make a dark, heavy film. But I didn’t feel that would have been right for it. So with the second film, I feel it will be easier for people to accept where we go because I’ve already laid the foundation.”
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is in production now and is expected to be released on December 16, 2022.
