Brooke Bunny
Seems James Wan’s return to horror won’t be a permanent one.
After the success of “Fast & Furious 7”, no surprise to see a major studio chase the Aussie-born filmmaker for their next big tentpole. In this case, it’s WB, who want the “Saw” and “Insidious” helmer to direct their superhero blockbuster “Aquaman”.
The film already has a star (Jason Momoa, who’ll debut in the role via a cameo appearance in next year’s “Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice”), writers (Will Beall and Kurt Johnstad are writing separate scripts for the project), and a release date (July 27, 2018) but until now, no director. Though The Hollywood Reporter says no offer has been made, it’s believed Wan is Warner’s first pick for the job – so that offer is coming.
2018 is a long ways off, but a big film like “Aquaman” will need to get started at least a year-and-a-half to two years before, so while Wan can fit “The Conjuring 2” in beforehand, he wouldn’t be able to helm the next “Fast & Furious” movie should he be interested (and by all accounts, he isn’t; “Furious 7” really knocked him out, understandably) – though Universal does have an option on him for that, and could excise that if they wanted to.
Though Aquaman hasn’t graced the big screen in our world, the character did get his own movie in the fictional universe of TV’s “Entourage”, with Adrian Grenier’s Vinnie Chase playing the lead role. Hopefully Warner’s film will be a little less hokey than that looked.
