James Wan’s directorial career hasn’t always followed a predictable path, with the Conjuring helmsman straying from his horror roots to work on big-budget actioners like Fast & Furious 7 and the new Aquaman while leaving The Conjuring 3‘s directing duties to someone else. So while things seem to be going pretty well for Arthur Curry’s solo debut as the film begins its domestic run in cinemas, it’s hard to say whether Wan will be tempted back for a sequel.
As it stands, the filmmaker is under no contractual obligation to return for a follow-up, but in an interview with ComicBook.com, Wan suggested that he may have enjoyed his experience on the first Aquaman enough to go another round.
“I mean, liking the people I work with goes a long way,” Wan said. “That was the reason why I came back when I did Insidious 2. But it’s a weird one for me, because I actually don’t know what I want to do next for the first time in my career. I felt like Aquaman ticked a lot of boxes for me. I want to do another action movie after Furious 7, I wanted to do a world creation film, and I wanted to do a superhero movie, and Aquaman literally ticked all of those boxes for me. And so right now, I’m in that sort of place of like do I kind of go back and do a smaller movie maybe as my next one, something a bit more intimate. Or if I can do a personal movie, but maybe it’s on a bigger scale. I’m not sure at this point.”
Having spent these last few years working to get this first Aquaman movie on our screens, you couldn’t blame Wan if he at least needed some time away from the franchise. But whether the director is game for a sequel or not, the bosses at Warner Bros. certainly seem keen to start work on Aquaman 2, and based on recent interviews, actors Jason Momoa and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are also game for further adventures.
Though a sequel has yet to be officially confirmed, Aquaman’s box office figures so far have definitely made a case for it, with the movie already soaring well beyond the $300 million mark thanks largely to its overseas popularity. What’s more, the flick was projected earlier this week to take in between $65 million and $70 million domestically from Friday to Sunday, before grossing a total of at least $120 million over the full five-day holiday weekend.
In any case, with the film out now in cinemas, you can decide for yourself if Wan’s underwater world is worth a revisit.
