James Wan made his name directing horror movies with tiny budgets, that went on to make loads of money, starting with the 2004 game-changer ‘Saw’, and including films in the ‘Conjuring’ and ‘Insidious’ franchises. But his career received quite a jolt this winter, when his picture ‘Aquaman’, which certainly didn’t have a tiny budget, but absolutely made a load of money, over a billion dollars worldwide. In fact, ‘Aquaman’ is the highest-grossing movie of all time about a DC superhero, beating even those starring Batman. Obviously, Warner Brothers wants a sequel with Wan returning to direct, but Wan wants to go back to his roots before plunging back into another big-budget extravaganza.
While there are no details, Wan will next direct a horror movie for New Line Cinema. He is writing the script with Ingrid Bisu, who starred in the ‘Conjuring’ spinoff ‘The Nun’. Wan will produce this mystery movie through Atomic Monster, along with Michael Clear. This movie is expected to film in Los Angeles this fall.
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This is clearly not ‘The Trench’, the proposed horror spin-off of ‘Aquaman’, featuring the carnivorous monsters seen in the first movie. The status of that film is unknown, as there haven’t been any updates since it was first suggested that WB was considering making it.
Wan will reportedly begin pre-production on ‘Aquaman 2’ next year. In addition to that and this unnamed horror movie, Wan is expected to direct the pilot episodes of Netflix’s ‘The Magic Order’ based on a comic book by Mark Millar, and Amazon’s ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, based on the ’90s slasher flick.
As for ‘Aquaman 2’, it is believed that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II‘s Black Manta will be the lead villain, after his supporting role in the first movie. Jason Momoa is expected to return as the titular hero, with Amber Heard as Mera, and Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin, the conspiracy theorist obsessed with finding Atlantis. David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is reported to be working on the screenplay.
‘Aquaman 2’ has a tentative release date of December 16, 2022.
Source: Heroic Hollywood
