Apparently James Wan Initially Pitched ‘Aquaman’ As A Horror Monster Movie
James Wan has officially hit the jackpot with his adaptation of DC’s Aquaman, which is set to release December 21, 2018, just in time for the Christmas season. Fans are waiting in much anticipation to catch Jason Momoa as Arthur, aka Aquaman. Alongside Momoa is Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Vulko, Patrick Wilson as King Orm, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, and so many more big names that it’s difficult to keep track. Wan directed the screenplay by Will Beall, with co-writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Fans are likely expecting another film that follows in suite with other DC adapted movies, but they will just have to wait and see what happens in only a few short days. Brandon Davis from the site Comicbook currently touts Aquaman as set to “change the entire world of superheroes.”
What is interesting is Movie Web just reported that James Wan originally wanted to make Aquaman a horror monster movie. Movie Web sees fit to try and argue that James Wan may very well be the king of horror in the film industry right now, and that is said with much to back it up, being as Wan has directed more than a few of the top grossing horror films as of late. Wan is the man behind the direction of films such as Saw, Dead Silence, Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2, The Conjuring, and The Conjuring 2. He has also written scripts for Saw III, The Nun, and the recently announced adaptation of The Crooked Man and an untitled Annabelle Film, according to IMDb.
With a portfolio such as that, many are likely unsurprised that Wan wanted to go dark with Aquaman. He has remarked to reporters on his desire.
“I realized, wow, his character resides in this crazy, big world, and I could do something very interesting with it. I look up to people like Spielberg, Cameron, Lucas, John Carpenter. I’m a fan of genre filmmaking, naturally. So I thought I could make Aquaman a genre film, meaning a horror monster movie. DC basically said, yes, you can make Aquaman versus sea monsters, if that’s what you want.”
That was his first pitch, an “Aquaman versus sea monsters” rendition of the DC character. His inspiration comes from the likes of John Carpenter’s Halloween and The Thing and James Cameron’s Aliens and The Abyss.
The synopsis of James Wan’s take on Aquaman is as follows:
“Once home to the most advanced civilization on Earth, the city of Atlantis is now an underwater kingdom ruled by the power-hungry King Orm. With a vast army at his disposal, Orm plans to conquer the remaining oceanic people — and then the surface world. Standing in his way is Aquaman, Orm’s half-human, half-Atlantean brother and true heir to the throne. With help from royal counselor Vulko, Aquaman must retrieve the legendary Trident of Atlan and embrace his destiny as protector of the deep.”
