Aquaman ($1.1 Billion Worldwide Box Office)

We’re still over a year away from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will introduce Aquaman (Jason Momoa) in preparation for 2017’s Justice League: Part One, but Warner Bros. is already looking further ahead to see how the King of the Seven Seas will start swimming.  That’s not to diminish planning ahead on what could be a difficult sell to audiences who see the character as a punchline from how he’s been referenced in Entourage and parodied on South Park.

As we previously reported, Momoa is signed to a four-picture deal, although three of those four pictures are going to be team-up films.  His solo picture won’t hit until 2018, and while two scripts are currently being written (a standard practice in Hollywood) Latino Review says Warner Bros. is aiming big with the superhero’s standalone picture.  LR reports that their setting up Aquaman  “for a world-building spectacle blockbuster like Avatar.”


In terms of specifics, the studio is reportedly looking at Karl Urban to possibly play the villain, and they’re waiting for Star Trek 3 to finish shooting so he’ll be available.  Will they go with Black Manta or Ocean Master?  Or will they go the Batman Begins route by choosing a smaller villain in order to get a bigger villain in the sequel?
As for the director, Warner Bros. has been aiming for respected directors and actors for their projects like Michelle MacLaren directing Wonder Woman and Ezra Miller starring in The Flash, but LR is saying that 300: Rise of an Empire helmer Noam Murro might get the Aquaman gig.  While they point out that Murro is friendly with Zack Snyder through their relationship with 300, but I think (or maybe I just hope) that the studio is setting their sites higher than a guy who basically made the first 300 but with boats and a darker palette.

ForeverBlu wrote:I like Jason, but do DC fans really be checkin for Aquaman like that?

UltimateMarvel wrote:That's pretty fucking cool, man! Love the Momoa's scar touch-up. This one actually does a good job of showing us what we can expect in a movie. I'm really curious to see how they tackle the water element and breathing under water, it's got to look natural.

It seems the success of the latest Fast & Furious movie has put directer James Wan at the top of quite a few lists. Deadline report that he's the man Sony want to kick-start their new Robotech franchise, and reckon he is in early talks to do just that. The site also acknowledges that Wan has a lot of offers on the table, but hear that "he and Sony are going to try and make this work."

As we knew already, one of those offers was Warner Bros' solo Aquaman movie, and The Wrap's Jeff Sneider is hearing that Wan has agreed to helm it after his next project, The Conjuring 2. If that's the case, it'll obviously be a while before cameras roll on Robotech, so it's entirely possible something will have to give here.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

Rusty Cunt wrote:A reveal in an email is exactly as interesting as Justice League. I think they nailed it  

lol! It was just such a let down. After the destruction of Metropolis in MOS, Bruce didn't think to look for other people with powers on his journey to destroy Superman? But young Lex, who's got a company to run and is obsessed with Superman, manages to find the time to hunt down all of them and their logos?

He also found the Kryptonite too. They completely overlooked the greatest detective in the world in this movie.

Director Seth Grahame-Smith has left The Flash. The official explanation: "creative differences."

Sources at WB tell me that this is just one part of what's going on behind the scenes at the DC movieverse. Zack Snyder and Geoff Johns were taken aback at critical and audience reaction to Batman v Superman, I'm told, and WB execs have found themselves at odds with Snyder over his vision for Justice League and the DC movieverse going forward. Of course Justice League was scheduled to start shooting mere days after BvS was released, which meant WB couldn't take any definitive action - like removing Snyder or delaying the movie to make changes - without poisoning the box office for BvS. The result? Lots of fights between Snyder and the WB execs, and lots of pressure from Burbank on Snyder, who is shooting in London.

I'm not sure what the exact nature of the creative differences on The Flash are, but I'm being told that this may not be the only movie impacted by the aftermath of BvS. According to multiple, reliable sources James Wan is feeling a tremendous amount of trepidation about Aquaman. It's important to remember two things - Fast 7 was a very difficult process for him, even without Paul Walker's tragic death, and James Wan doesn't really need Aquaman. With The Conjuring 2 and Lights Out (which he produced), Wan will be owning WB's summer slate, bringing in a lot of money with movies that cost a fraction of Aquaman. Aquaman needs Wan, and right now Wan is trying to decide if he needs that hassle.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out. Wan has the upper hand on Aquaman, so maybe he'll be able to make that work in his favor. I keep hearing that it could be delayed in an attempt to get the film right, but who knows. Justice League is going to be Justice League, no matter how hard the studio rides Snyder. As for the rest of the slate - Suicide Squad, the weird side movie, looks like it's the hail mary pass for the DC Movieverse, at least until guaranteed winner The Batman gets here.

UltimateMarvel wrote:DC is just struggling right now after BvS. Probably taking a whole new approach.

As the DC Extended Universe continues to take shape, plans are being formalized for the eventual Aquaman movie. Development on the picture began some time ago, as director Zack Snyder cast Jason Momoa as the sea-faring superhero back in 2014 for a cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Warner Bros. subsequently hired The Conjuring and Furious 7 helmer James Wan to direct, and in an effort to get things moving as quickly as possible, set about enacting a somewhat controversial new screenwriting trend called “dual tracking.” The idea is that multiple scripts for the same project are written at once, and then you pull the best parts out of each to craft the final screenplay.

Will Beall, who penned Gangster Squad and a very early draft of Justice League, was set on one script while Kurt Johnstad (300: Rise of an Empire) worked on another. And when Wan signed on to direct, his Conjuring 2 scribe David Leslie Johnson came onboard to pen a third script.

However, in the wake of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s disappointing reception and the subsequent adjustments made by Warner Bros., it now appears that the Aquaman movie went through a bit of retooling and is now moving forward with just one screenwriter. Per THR, the development tracks for Aquaman were recently scrapped as Wan and newly installed DC Films head Geoff Johns got together to focus on getting the story for the Aquaman movie in top shape. Now that the story is finalized, Beall is being brought back to write the script, this time as the project’s only writer.

It’s been a curious development process thus far, and certainly one could see Warner Bros. getting a bit ahead of itself in trying to launch its interconnected DC Extended Universe. However, it’s nice to see the studio eager to make the best film possible, even when that means scrapping whatever work was already put into it. Johns is now one of the main architects of this DC Extended Universe as he was recently set to lead the DC Films unit alongside WB executive vice-president Jon Berg. Indeed, Johns is credited as co-writer on next year’s Wonder Woman and is co-writing Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman movie, so it certainly seems like he’ll have a heavy hand in crafting the DC films going forward.

So far, Momoa and Amber Heard as Mera are the only cast members set for Aquaman, although Willem Dafoe is expected to play some sort of Aquaman-connected character in the upcoming Justice League, so it’s possible he’ll be a part of this standalone film as well. With a July 27, 2018 release date set, I expect development on the script will continue through the end of the year with filming on Aquaman getting underway sometime in 2017.

When Jason Momoa suits up as “Aquaman” for his standalone film, he will face off against one of the seafaring superhero’s greatest foes.

TheWrap has exclusively learned the bad guy of the movie will be Aquaman’s deadliest and most-famous opponent — Black Manta. “Aquaman” diehards should go nuts for the film’s adherence to DC lore — “Aquaman” first introduced the villain in 1967. In DC’s “New 52” reboot, Black Manta is a man in a suit with no innate super powers.

Black Manta (pictured above) has had several distinct origin stories over the years. In the latest version, Aquaman killed his father in retaliation for a murder committed by the young Black Manta. So begins Black Manta’s quest for revenge.

The character has spent some time in Belle Reve prison, during which Amanda Waller tried to get him to join Suicide Squad. Interestingly, fans floated a now-disproven rumor last year that Common would play Black Manta in “Suicide Squad.”

Jason Momoa will next be seen as “Aquaman” in 2017’s “Justice League” along with fellow Atlanteans Mera (Amber Heard) and Vulko (Willem Dafoe). “Gangster Squad” screenwriter Will Beal is writing the screenplay based off a treament by Geoff  Johns and James Wan. Wan is directing the “Aquaman” film, which is slated for release on July 27th, 2018.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Nice! I love it. I don't know much about Aquaman's foes but this is one that I recognized because of Young Justice.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:Nice! I love it. I don't know much about Aquaman's foes but this is one that I recognized because of Young Justice.

I'm very curious if they'll even bother casting a name actor since he's under a big ass helmet most of the time.

I don't know who would be a good fit for this, someone who needs a big break. It's a black character, right? I guess that could change though.

ForeverBlu wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Patrick Wilson has just been cast as AC's half-brother Orm aka Ocean Master. Now that is one solid addition, Patrick is always best with darker material.

Good for him.

Get that DCU money Patrick!

The Get Down actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has landed the role of villain Black Manta in Warner Bros upcoming film Aquaman, which stars Jason Momoa as the title character, as known as Arthur Curry, king of Atlantis. James Wan is directing the DC superhero pic that also stars Amber Heard as Mera, Queen of Atlantis and Patrick Wilson Aquaman’s supervillain half brother ORM.

Momoa’s Aquaman made a quick cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and will re-join the team in the Zack Snyder-directed follow-up Justice League. WB has slated the stand-alone film for an October 5, 2018 release.

Mateen’s slate of upcoming projects include Paramount’s Baywatch re-imaging, Fox’s musical biopic The Greatest Showman On Earth, and Sidney Hall.

Tyger wrote:Considering DC's track record, this casting announcement should be followed by an announcement of a script or director change

ForeverBlu wrote:Ummmmm..