James Wan is not a newcomer to successful franchise filmmaking. Before his recent $1 billion success with “Aquaman,” the director made a name for himself for years in the world of horror films, and most famously, launching the ‘Conjuring’ cinematic universe. In addition, “Aquaman” isn’t even his most successful franchise film, as “Furious 7” earned over $1.5 billion worldwide. So, with that in mind, there doesn’t seem to be much urgency on Wan’s side to rush back to the superhero genre.
Speaking to CinemaBlend, Wan was asked if he had an idea what his next film behind the camera might be. Many just assume that the “Aquaman” filmmaker would likely return to the Jason Momoa-led franchise.
“I think I kinda know,” said the filmmaker.
And while common sense would dictate that he’d rush back to the world of “Aquaman” to capitalize on the first film’s massive success, that’s not what he has in mind, at all.
“It won’t be ‘Aquaman 2’ just yet,” Wan said. “I have something else I’m cooking up. I’m not ready to share just yet.”
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the filmmaker isn’t tackling “Aquaman 2” just yet. The film isn’t even scheduled to arrive in theaters until December 2022. That gives Wan plenty of time to develop a whole new film in the meantime. And considering his penchant for horror, people might immediately assume that he’s going to revisit the genre that made him a star. But let’s not forget that his biggest financial successes are in the realms of superheroes and car-based action films. Therefore, we honestly have no clue what he has up his sleeve.
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What we do know is that Wan is a producing machine, with “Annabelle Comes Home” arriving in theaters this year and his “Aquaman” spin-off “The Trench” likely to get going soon enough. So, even though the next directorial effort is unknown, Wan is going to be in front of film fans plenty over the next several years.
