-

About a week ago, Collider partnered up with IMAX and Warner Bros. for a special IMAX 3D screening of Aquaman before it was in theaters. While getting to show the film early was really cool, for me the highlight came after the screening, when I got to moderate a Q&A with director James Wan. While he had just gotten back from promoting the film around the world, he couldn’t have been nicer and down to talk about everything.

james-wan-the-troop
Image via Warner Bros.

During the 35-minute Q&A, Wan talked about how he landed the job, the various challenges that came with trying to bring the Aquaman story to life, wanting to capture the weird and wild stuff in the comics, how almost every shot in the film required some sort of VFX, if they had any resistance to including the classic Aquaman costume from the comics, how they put together the trench sequence, if they ever debated not including Black Manta, how tough it was to execute the Nicole Kidman action set piece towards the beginning of the film that was done in one shot, what he learned from test screenings, deleted scenes, and so much more. In addition, he shared what director Edgar Wright asked him to include in the film and talked about the incredible worldwide success of The Conjuring franchise.

Check out what James Wan had to say in the player above and below ix exactly what we talked about followed by some recent links.

Finally, a huge thank you to James Wan, IMAX and Warner Bros. for making this screening happen!

aquaman-movie-amber-heard-james-wan-jason-momoa
Image via Warner Bros.

Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as King Orm/Ocean Master, Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Vulko, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, and Nicole Kidman as Atlanna.

James Wan:

  • How people are responding the film and how it’s bright and fun and different than the previous DC films.
  • Did he debate giving Vinnie Chase a cameo?
  • Does he want fans to see the film in 2D or 3D?
  • How did he land the job directing Aquaman?
  • Does the film still have any of his original ideas that he came up with at the beginning of the development process?
  • Did he ever try and include something in the film and they realized it went too far?
  • Did the film change a lot in the editing room?
  • Easter egg talk. Reveals something Edger Wright asked for made the cut. (11 minute mark)
  • Talks about the Nicole Kidman action set piece towards the beginning of the film that was done in one shot. Ends up it took them three days to pull it off.
  • Did he get any resistance when he wanted to include the classic Aquaman costume from the comics that’s gold/orange?
  • aquaman-2-jason-momoa-amber-heard
    Image via Warner Bros.
    Which sequence did he think was going to be easy but ended up being very difficult?
  • How did he design and put together the Trench sequence?
  • How did he design the way they’d swim and talk in the ocean?
  • Did they debate not including Black Manta and which other DC character might have been included?
  • What shots made him cry?
  • How does he work with the VFX houses?
  • How he showed his directors cut to Zack and Debbie Snyder and what did they tell him?
  • What was it like directing Jason Momoa?
  • aquaman-sequel-jason-momoa
    Image via Warner Bros.
    How he wanted to make sure Momoa showed a vulnerable side in Aquaman.
  • What was it like telling Momoa that he needs to be shirtless while filming the action scene on the sub?
  • Is he surprised at the worldwide success of The Conjuring movies including the spinoffs and sequels?
  • What’s coming up for him?
  • What did he learn from the test screening process and did he have any deleted scenes?

For more on Aquaman, check out the links below:

aquaman-jason-momoa-costume
Image via Warner Bros.
aquaman-movie-image
Image via Warner Bros.
aquaman-image-61
Image via Warner Bros.

aquaman-poster