After 2018’s “Aquaman” grossed nearly $1.2 billion dollars, becoming the highest-earning entry in the DC Extended Universe, there was little surprise at the announcement of a sequel. It was a given, an expectation. What makes the prospect of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is the fact that it may very well see James Wan draw on his roots as a horror director.
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In an interview with Total Film, Wan, the master behind the “Saw” and “Conjuring” franchises, revealed that he was looking to “Planet of the Vampires,” a 1965 space horror directed by Mario Bava for inspiration.
“Aquaman 2 is very heavily inspired by ‘Planet of the Vampires,” Wan told “Total Film.” “You can take the boy out of horror, but you can never take the horror out of the boy.”
He went on to explain that he felt liberated to take more filmmaking risks with the sequel. “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 with this very lurid, strange world. 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.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
Aquaman forges an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally in a bid to save Atlantis and the rest of the planet.
Jason Momoa will return to the screen as Arthur Curry, having now taken his place as king of Atlantis. The movie will see him forced to reach out to his villainous half-brother Orm, played by Patrick Wilson, in order to stop Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Matteen II) from unleashing an ancient evil. At Cinemacon 2023, Wan described the movie as a love story between the two brothers. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” will also feature Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and Temeura Morrison.
The ‘Aquaman’ sequel is currently set to be released on December 20. Watch the first trailer below.
