AQUAMAN (James Wan, 2018)

[shooby]

DON'T KILL IT reunion at the AQUAMAN premiere, we know Mike Mendez is a good friend of James Wan

Especially since without Mendez, Dolph would not have been part of

[GeneralMcFaiL]

Saw this in a review of someone I respect.

"I really didn’t expect to see so much of Dolph Lundgren. He was great in the film too."


I need this film NOW!

[Jox]

Box Office: 'Aquaman' Is Playing Like 'Wonder Woman' And 'Black Panther' (In China)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmende ... 2d56f87519

In holdover news for Friday, Aquaman continued to make waves yesterday as it opened around the world and continued to rake in cash in China. The DC Films superhero flick earned another $27 million overseas, including that $12.5m Friday in China. That was a drop of just 44% from the $24.5m opening day, which is a remarkable hold for a big Hollywood export in what will soon be the biggest moviegoing marketplace in the world. As of Friday, the film’s worldwide total was $179.1m. But then it went and earned a ridiculous $24.03m on Saturday (-35% from last Saturday’s $37m haul), bringing the movie’s global cume to $203.13m. So, yeah, it has earned $172m in China alone.

By tomorrow it’ll have a $54 million second weekend and an $189m ten-day total, putting it above the $180m cume of Captain America: Civil War. That 43% drop is ironically what Wonder Woman and Black Panther dropped in their respective second domestic weekends. It should top Avengers: Age of Ultron ($240m in 2015), and Venom ($270m) by the end. If that happens, the James Wan-directed superhero movie will be the second-biggest Hollywood superhero flick ever in China behind Avengers: Infinity War ($360m). We’ll see how well it holds up outside of China over the weekend, but it already has a potent head start on Bumblebee and Mary Poppins Returns as it makes its case for being the Titanic (and not the Tomorrow Never Dies) of the Christmas season.

I can't find the source of this spot featuring the cast names and a new footage of Dolph:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrbUlq8ge3p/

[Jox]

Some audience reactions on Twitter

I especially liked seeing @Dolph_Lundgren at #Aquaman’s final fight. It reminded me of #MastersoftheUniverse, one of my favorite movies w/ Lundgren as He-Man. #IHavethePower

Nice to see @Dolph_Lundgren show off his acting chops. Was waiting for him to say “I must break you”.

Two movies in 2018 and I’m reminded that @Dolph_Lundgren is great.

[Jox]

'People want more': Jason Momoa swims to new heights as 'Aquaman'
https://torontosun.com/entertainment/mo ... as-aquaman





The Director James Wan: If ‘Aquaman’ Doesn’t Work, Blame Me
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/movi ... uaman.html

[Jox]

Box Office: 'Aquaman' Laps Past $260M Overseas
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat- ... as-1169835

James Wan's Aquaman is fast approaching the $300 million mark even before it debuts in North America on Dec. 21.

The Warner Bros. and DC superhero pic easily topped the foreign box-office chart upon earning $126.4 million in its second weekend of play internationally for a global haul of $261.3 million, including a massive haul of $189.2 million in China.

After first opening China over the Dec. 7-9 weekend, Aquaman swam into an additional 42 markets this weekend.

In like-for-like markets, the year-end tentpole is pacing 65 percent ahead of last year's DC superhero pic Justice League.

Aquaman stars Jason Momoa in the titular role. Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson and Dolph Lundgren co-star.

Warners decided to unfurl Aquaman first overseas in order to get a jump on a crowded pack of year-end holiday films, including Mary Poppins Returns and the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee.

[Jox]

Battle sharks. Jason Momoa. Armoured sea horses. Dolph Lundgren. Whale-shaped sea-ships. Giant crab monsters. A definite Raiders of the Lost Ark/Uncharted/Romancing the Stone vibe going on. Julie Andrews as the most powerful creature on the planet.

It’s fair to say I had a lot of fun with Aquaman.

- Timon Singh (author of the BORN TO BE BAD book and producer on IN SEARCH OF THE LAST ACTION HEROES)

James Wan’s Aquaman is the precise injection that Warner Brothers needed after their inconsistent handling of the DCEU; it is an incredibly fun adventure film stocked full of fantastical world building, an interwoven storyline, and a great ensemble that delivers with colorful performances. Aquaman is everything a comic book movie should be and is one of the year’s most entertaining films.

And of course, Dolph Lundgren continues his rebirth into cinema this year with his reprisal as Ivan Drago in #CreedII, and now as King Nereus, one of the remaining kings of the underwater world, and father of Amber Heard, who Patrick Wilson courts to unite the remaining Atlanteans to wage a war on humans. Dolph is great playing a role that would have once gone to Sean Connery or William Holden.

https://backtothemovies.com/one-of-2018 ... an-review/

Dolph Lundgren had an commanding but understated presence as Nereus. Would love to see more of Nereus's political side in the sequel(hopefully!)

https://www.reddit.com/user/KnightRaider5.compact

[GeneralMcFaiL]

Looks like this thing is gonna pull a Venom. Critics seem to be split yet fans/movie goers are having a blast with it which means this thing will probably have good word of mouth - and good legs for a long successful run.

Once he's done shooting that movie with Chuck Liddell I'm excited to see what projects start coming his way. There are A-List actors that would kill to have the success Dolph is havin' in 18!

I think it's pretty cool to see a wide range of people that are enjoying seeing Dolph back on the big screen in a big way again. He seems to have a lot of goodwill with fans of all different genres.

[Jox]

Box Office: Why 'Aquaman' Is Succeeding Where 'Green Lantern' And 'Justice League' Failed
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmende ... 2274e54b31

[Jox]

‘Aquaman’ Amazon Prime Previews Hook Near $3M Besting ‘Jumanji 2’
https://deadline.com/2018/12/aquaman-sn ... 202521144/

UPDATED 12:09PM: with more preview figures: One Saturday 7PM show at roughly 1,225 theaters last night of Warner Bros./DC’s Aquaman made a huge $2.9M in paid sneaks, a figure that beats the $1.86M earned by Amazon Prime’s previous collaboration with Sony a year ago on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. If we were to rank Aquaman on this weekend’s B.O. chart it would file in 13th 10th place ahead of Universal’s Green Book ($2.78M at 1,215 theaters), Fox Searchlight’s The Favourite ($2.5M weekend at 439 theaters) and Fox/New Regency’s Widows ($1.2M at 1,228).

Already, Aquaman has caught plenty of fish abroad with an overseas box office of $261M before officially opening stateside.

Paid sneaks, more than packed free previews, are truly an indicator to a major studio about the size of the demand for their upcoming release. While there’s no barometer of success when it comes to paid sneaks, recent preview scenarios have yielded big hits at the B.O.: In addition to Jumanji 2 (opening $36.1M), Sony had Amazon paid previews on Hotel Transylvania 3 ($1.3M previews off Friday 3PM sneaks, $44M opening) and Warner’s A Star Is Born which minted $1.35M from Tuesday/Wednesday previews). Recently we hear that last weekend’s Saturday sneaks of Paramount’s Bumblebee made around $500K at 325 sites, for an impressive $1,5K screen average.

Atom Tickets partnered with Amazon Prime and Warners as the exclusive paid sneaks retailer whereby Prime members could purchase up to 10 tickets each for last night’s show.

For Atom, Aquaman became their top ticket-seller ever in the movie’s first 24 hours on sale (reported on Nov. 20), and to date the title has shattered the mobile movie ticket retailer’s record for top pre-sales of all time, besting Deadpool 2, Avengers: Infinity War, and Black Panther. Note Atom is younger than Fandango in regards to its movie ticket sales history and doesn’t canvas the same swath of theaters as its rival. In the first 24-hours of sales on Fandango (back on Nov. 20), Aquaman pre-sales eclipsed that of Venom ($80.2M opening weekend) and Mission: Impossible –Fallout ($61.2M).

Given how Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year, many are looking at the five-day path that Aquaman is going to burn in its opening. Right now, the James Wan-directed movie, which has a 70% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, is expected to post a $57M-$62M three-day to lead all films next weekend, and a five day around $115M. Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns opens Wednesday and many think its first five days will be around $57M-$62M while Paramount’s Bumblebee is seeing a $35M-$40M Friday-Tuesday 5-day start.

Who knows where this from?

[shooby]

In HD : https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4883/4630 ... d702_o.jpg

[Jox]

CS INTERVIEW: JAMES WAN TAKES ON THE DC UNIVERSE WITH AQUAMAN
https://movies.rapida.co/2018/12/17/cs- ... h-aquaman/


‘Aquaman’ Director James Wan: ‘I Want People To Laugh With Him, Not At Him’
http://kore.am/aquaman-director-james-w ... ics-movie/


How Director James Wan Nailed Aquaman's Tone and Used Justice League to His Advantage
https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-director-ja ... 1831079999




Exclusive interview: James Wan on his tongue in cheek Aquaman movie
https://www.monstersandcritics.com/movi ... man-movie/

M&C: Was casting Dolph Lundgren like the way you fancasted Shawnee Smith on Saw?

JW: I fancast all my movies to some degree. Nicole Kidman was a fan casting. Patrick Wilson as well. I’m a fan of all my actors that I work with.

M&C: But I’m sure no one would object when you landed Nicole Kidman. Dolph Lundgren may have been someone you would have to champion.

JW: I did champion Dolph but fortunately I didn’t get any knockback so that was good. This was before Creed as well. If it was after Creed it would have probably been easier.

No, I’ve always been a big fan of Dolph and I’ve always felt that he’s a really strong actor. I think back to movies like Johnny Mnemonic. I don’t really remmeber most of that movie but I remember Dolph’s character and I remember Dolph playing it and being very charismatic.

So when it came time to cast the more elder statesman king character, Dolph was perfect for me because you would buy that at one stage in time he was this great warrior king in his heydays.

[GeneralMcFaiL]

I can't believe James Wan referenced Johnny Mnemonic... that is fantastic.

I thought it was MoTU that was the reason for him casting Dolph.

[shooby]

As far as I can see, there are some that still doubts about his abilities TODAY, that's a shame

[Jox]

I can't believe James Wan referenced Johnny Mnemonic... that is fantastic.

I thought it was MoTU that was the reason for him casting Dolph.

Yes I find it awesome, and it proves James Wan is a real fan! Nobody ever quotes JM, where Lundgren showed off 23 years ago that he could eclipse a prestigious cast with a supporting role...

As far as I can see, there are some that still doubts about his abilities TODAY, that's a shame

That seems about to change especially with CREED II...


Interviews with James Wan and the author of THE ART AND MAKING OF AQUAMAN, Mike Avila