It turns out that theDCEU’s first billion-dollar movie,Aquaman, was shockingly challenging to make according to one of its stars, and now I’m even more impressed by the efforts of those involved.Aquamanstarred Jason Momoain his first solo DC movie months after his debut inJustice League. At a time whenthe DCEU was strugglingbeneath the weight of some surprising critical disappointments,Aquamansmashed it out of the park as the first and only movie inDC’s now-defunct cinematic franchiseto rake in more than $1 billion.
The success seemed to mark a turning point for the DCEU as subsequent movies ditched the distinctive monochromatic palette of preceding movies and opted to inject color into its cinematic franchise. As a result,Aquamanwas a visual delight, depicting the Kingdom of Atlantis in mesmerizing fashion. This scheme worked well with the movie’s visual effects, as the vast majority of the movie was set underwater, a setting that filmmakers expertly rendered. I’m glad it looked as good as it did because it transpires that a huge amount of effort was put into the process.
Dolph Lundgren’s Newest Aquaman Filming Comments Highlight The Challenges Of The Movie
Lundgren Revealed The Dizzying Amount Of Takes Required To Film A Scene
Dolph Lundgren, best known for his breakout role as Ivan Drago in 1985’sRocky IV, starred inAquamanas Mera’s father and king of the Xebel tribe, Nereus. His character was pivotal insofar as he supported the movie’s villain, Orm, in his efforts to invade the surface world, before switching sides and offering his allegiance to Arthur Curry. Speaking toScreen RantatFAN EXPO San Francisco,Lundgren opened up about the filming process and how arduous it was for him and the rest of the cast and crewworking on the movie. His full quote is as follows:
Then I show up in Australia, and there’s all scenes where you’re floating; hanging on wires and pretending to be floating because all the underwater scenes are shot in the studio. The only water I saw was the Evian water in the barn that we were drinking for three months. For the first scene, I just had to float off my sea dragon or wherever I’m sitting on and just float over to over here 10 feet. I remember doing 10 takes, 20 takes – I needed 28 takes. I didn’t have one line of dialogue, and I’m like, “G–damnit, am I losing it? Am I this bad?”
And then I remember the next scene was with Willem Defoe, and we did like 40 takes. He forgot half his dialogue, I had to have cotton in my ears just to be able to listen because after a while you’ve tried everything. It turned out James Wan wanted different performances, but it was also because of the visual effects; if it wasn’t just perfect, we had to reshoot. It was very tedious, but also exciting for me to be in a big movie like that.
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His comments lend credence to those of co-star Patrick Wilson, who stated at a press junket (viaCBR) that the $200 million production pushed the cast and crew “to the limit,“with stunt teams cycling through numerous harnesses to perfect the look of being submerged. Wilson added that even Momoa, who has experience performing his own stunts, ultimately balked at the prospect of continuing to film several takes in a harness. The actors' comments shed new light on the ardor of filming for a movie that takes place mostly underwater, and I hope they agree the result was worth it.
Why Aquaman Was Always Going To Be One Of DC’s Most Challenging Films To Shoot
Much Of The Movie Took Place Underwater
Whilethe DCEU’s first moviesdemonstrated just how much VFX would be deployed throughout the franchise, withMan of SteelandBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicebeing replete with Zack Snyder’s distinctive visual flair,Aquamanis, quite literally, in a world of its own.The concept of Aquaman was always going to be difficult to commit to live-action thanks to its main setting, Atlantis, being underwater. The desire to deliver a relatively faithful adaptation of one of DC’s most iconic heroes would also mean that director James Wan would not want to skimp on his defining elements.
Given dialogue and action could never have been achieved by filming underwater scenes in actual water tanks, it’s no surprise that believably replicating the effects of being submerged was so difficult.
Given dialogue and action could never have been achieved by filming underwater scenes in actual water tanks, it’s no surprise that believably replicating the effects of being submerged was so difficult. I think that the results speak for themselves, asthe special effects used inAquamanare impressive considering the limitations. Ultimately, I think that the actors and other cast and crew did an amazing job in attempting to depict an underwater world, and learning just how much work was put into it brings a newfound appreciation.
I’m Even More Impressed With Aquaman 6 Years After Its Debut
The Amount Of Work Put Into The Movie Paid Off
For helping to pull the DCEU out of its slump in the wake of a poorly receivedJustice League,I’ve always been impressed byAquaman. The DCEU’s rival franchise, the MCU, had six billion-dollar movies under its belt by the timeAquamanachieved the same for the DCEU, and it wouldn’t pull off another one beforeAquaman: The Lost Kingdomrounded out the franchise for good. Knowing that those involved pulled out all the stops to get it there, however, makes the achievement all the more impressive.
Despite earning more at the global box office,Aquamanwas beaten domestically byWonder Woman, which grossed $412 million compared toAquaman’s $335 million.
It also pains me to think howAquaman: The Lost Kingdomfailed to live up to its predecessor. With the writing already on the wall for the DCEU after James Gunn and Peter Safran announced the rebooted DC Universe one year prior, the making of theAquamansequel may well have felt overshadowed by the notion that it felt less consequential than its predecessor. Thankfully, this didn’t necessarily bear out in its global box office asAquaman’s only sequel earned $433 globally and was a hit among fans.
Aquaman
Cast
Aquaman follows Arthur Curry, a half-human, half-Atlantean, as he embarks on a journey to discover his true identity and claim his birthright as king. Released in 2018, the film explores his quest to bridge the worlds of land and sea in the DC Universe.
