Ultimate Dolph

Recently on The Fire And Water Podcast, they welcomed a man with A LOT of insider knowledge on the DCEU (Jett’s favorite term). Neil Daly, an independent freelance market research analyst plays a crucial role in the outcome of these films. He runs a lot of the early screenings for these films, and thoroughly relays the feedback to the studios. Daly came aboard during the early part of the Justice League screenings, all of Aquaman, and has recently been involved in Shazam!.

Below are some of the most interesting tidbits he shared, concerning Justice League, Aquaman, and Geoff Johns.

Rupert Gregson-Williams takes time out to chat with Jon Brown about his career highlights as film and television music composer. From 'The Prince Of Egypt' to his most recent accomplishment, the epic, fun and heart felt music for James Wan's DC Comic based cinematic blockbuster 'Aquaman'; Rupert shares details and anecdotes about his process as a creator of mighty fine scores.

natalia safran
#tbt to Dolph and I or King Nereus of Xebel and Mera’s father with Queen Rina of the Fisherman Kingdom on the set of @aquamanmovie in Australia Talk about deep #bts !

GeneralMcFaiL wrote:I thought this would do well... but wow.

Who among us would have ever thought after all these years Dolph could say he was a part of movie that made a billion dollars??

I mean I guess when everything is added up over the years the Rocky franchise has probably grossed a billion...

but Aquaman did it in one release!

EXCLUSIVE: The international success of James Wan’s Aquaman is changing the landscape of the DC Universe. This weekend the iridescent deep-sea kingdom of Atlantis will replace grim old Gotham City at the unofficial capital of the Warner’s superhero business. That symbolic relocation will happen when Wan’s Aquaman eclipses Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises as the all-time top-grossing film featuring a DC Comics superhero.

As of last weekend, the global box office for Wan’s amphibious epic was closing in on $1.07 billion — and a mere $17 million shy of matching the mark set by Dark Knight Rises, the 2012 finale installment of Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

When Wan’s salt-water saga does move into the top spot it will represent a sea change for Warner Bros. and its DC Comics adaptations. Consider this: Before 2012, the top-grossing DC adaptation was The Dark Knight, Nolan’s 2008 visit to Gotham City. Before 2008, the title belonged to Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), the landmark blockbuster that celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer.

So when Aquaman claims the top spot it will be the first time in three decades that Gotham City will settle for second in a ranking of Warner’s heroic hometowns.

Needless to say, Warner Bros. is eager to set sail with Aquaman 2. Warner Bros. has been courting the filmmaker and will likely need a whale-sized deal to lock him in. Wan is the only filmmaker who has delivered a billion-dollar moneymaker for two different studios (his Furious 7 revved up $1.5 billion for Universal in 2016) but don’t expect him to ship out from the Aquaman franchise. The filmmaker is deeply invested in the world creation aspect of Aquaman and sees the deep, blue sea as a fantasy setting that can be cinematically comparable to Middle-earth, the Jedi galaxy or the wizarding world of the Harry Potter films. There’s a lot of ocean floor and undersea kingdoms left for Wan explore.

Wan’s spokesman says the filmmaker is taking a much-needed break right now and studio sources say that a deal won’t happen until Wan sees a seaworthy script. The project is in development mode until that happens. Another wrinkle is Wan’s first-look deal with New Line. But it would be a shocker if Warner Bros. doesn’t get Wan back on board the same way they locked in director Patty Jenkins for the Wonder Woman sequel. After watching Disney-owned rival Marvel Studios fill the sky with superheroes there’s just too much pressure on Warner Bros. to catch up for the studio to allow a proven success to get off the hook.

There may be plenty of fish in the sea but Wan is a rare savant when it comes to delivering high-return international hits. Born in Malaysia and raised in Australia, he is a citizen of the world in his filmmaking sensibilities and Aquaman has proven to be a powerhouse export. Only 28% of the film’s box office haul has been in the domestic marketplace. No other DC Comics movie has traveled as well or as far in foreign markets.
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Wan spent years working on Aquaman including 172 days on principal photography with stops in Queensland, Morocco, Italy and Canada. It’s hard to imagine him walking away now. Last month I asked him about the sequel and he demurred. “I’m superstitious about that,” he said.

Wan clearly set the stage for the sequel in the first film by introducing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the Black Manta in a prominent, compelling and open-ended sequence which did plenty to whet fans appetite for his rematch with Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman.

After Wan’s Furious 7 success, Warner Bros. was so eager to work with the filmmaker on a superhero film that they offered him his pick of properties. The director considered The Flash project but in the end chose Aquaman for its (literally) immersive fantasy potential and also because he liked the challenge presented by the much-maligned hero’s pop-culture standing. For years Aquaman has been an orange-shirted punchline (thanks to Entourage, SpongeBob SquarePants, Robot Chicken, etc.). No one is laughing anymore. And this weekend when the King of Atlantis surpasses the Dark Knight of Gotham City, orange will officially be the new black for Warner Bros.

It’s been about a month since James Wan’s Aquaman came out. Within that month, a lot of things have happened: The holidays. Oscar noms. The government shutdown. New Bryan Singer allegations coming out and the producers of Red Sonja deciding they don't care. Hamberders.

2018 feels like it was decades ago. But I still can’t stop thinking about Dolph Lundgren riding a seahorse into battle.

We’re talking ‘80s action icon Dolph Lundgren—muscled manly man Dolph Lundgren — IVAN DRAGO HIMSELF — perched atop an iridescent, Lisa Frank-on-steroids sea creature. The colors: Neon. The hair: blowing gently in the ocean current. The sea horse: The #MaleAlly of the underwater kingdom. Male seahorses give birth! The female of the species deposits her eggs into the male’s pouch for fertilization, then bounces so the male can carry the kids while Ms. Seahorse Momma drinks mimosas with Amber Heard’s jellyfish dress.

That’s equality.

Dolph Lundgren riding a neon seahorse into battle is the riposte to toxic masculinity the underwater sea kingdom has long deserved.


"Wait, you mean... it's the women who give birth in your world? Arthurrrrr! Get over here right now."

Before the VFX artists and colorists like Mark Griffith do their work.


After the VFX artists and colorists like Mark Griffith do their work.

Method Studios rose to the challenge, creating two of the movie’s key sequences – the pursuit of Arthur and Mera (Amber Heard) through a Sicilian seaside village and an underwater journey into the Well of Souls.

Filmed dry-for-wet, Momoa was captured on set in rigs that simulated underwater movements but ultimately felt restrictive; Method artists replaced the majority of his performance and added the CG environment, Karathen and Arthur’s free-flowing locks, which feature an undone aesthetic that served as the guideline for how his hair should look throughout the film. Method artists also crafted a psychedelic 700-frame shot dubbed by Wan as ‘The Quickening,’ for which they were given loose direction to create a journey through Arthur’s mind’s eye.

Production VFX Supervisor:
Kelvin McIlwain

Method VFX Supervisors:
David Nelson (Mel), Josh Simmonds (Mel), Craig Wentworth (Van)