Aquaman makes waves at the box office

Five years ago a scene featuring a long-haired man, wielding a trident, leaping from the jaws of a sea monster in a tumultuous sea, captivated audiences in thousands of theaters across the country.

With its innovative visual effects showcasing an underwater world, the film Aquaman swiftly ascended to become the highest-grossing DC superhero film on the Chinese mainland. It raked in a staggering box-office revenue of 2.01 billion yuan ($281.4 million), following Avengers: Infinity War and Venom, to become the third highest-grossing foreign movie on the Chinese mainland in 2018.

Recently, the director of the movie, James Wan, and the actor portraying the titular character, Jason Momoa, returned to China, embarking on a promotional tour for the sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. They visited four cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan's Chengdu, and Guangzhou, Guangdong province — to share the behind-the-scenes stories from the new epic.

Picking up where it left off in the first installment, the new movie sees the titular protagonist face off against a new threat from his foe, Black Manta, who is still driven by the need to avenge his father's death in the first movie. In an attempt to stop the super villain, whose actions will cause a catastrophe for both the land and the ocean, Aquaman has to turn to his imprisoned brother, set aside their differences and forge an unlikely alliance.

Wan, also known among Chinese fans for the Hollywood blockbuster Furious 7, says he feels excited to return to the country, and says that the Chinese audience will discover how Aquaman has changed in the sequel.

"Five years later, he (Aquaman) is not just the king of Atlantis. He's married. He's a husband. He's also a dad. So, part of the fun is seeing how he juggles the responsibility of being a king and a dad. Sometimes, being a superhero is about waking up each morning and doing the work that you may not want to do," says the director with a smile.

In the Aquaman franchise, the protagonist is depicted as the son of a human being and the queen of the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantis, which sank to the bottom of the ocean a long time ago. Despite enjoying more heartwarming moments, such as taking care of his infant son with his father, a lighthouse keeper, in their cozy home located in Amnesty Bay, Maine, Aquaman still has to dive back into the deep sea to fulfill his responsibilities as the king.

Wan reveals that the new movie features bigger, brighter, more colorful, and more vibrant visual effects. Some of the movie's most visually stunning scenes showcase the icy landscape of Antarctica and the underwater spectacle of a lost kingdom.

Momoa, who sat alongside Wan during the interview on Dec 7, recalled that they also visited several iconic sites such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, and tasted the capital's signature dish, Peking duck, during their tour of Beijing.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Momoa was cast in the role of Aquaman in 2014.

Referring to the Aquaman franchise as the longest time he has ever played a character, he says, "I think when you play a character for 12 years, it becomes a part of you. You were hired for a specific reason, with certain aspects of life that contribute to the character's flavor. It comes from within your brain".

On some popular video streaming platforms in China, there is a highly viewed trailer for the sequel, featuring a funny scene. After freeing his brother from prison, Aquaman takes him to a mysterious jungle where he introduces his brother to various land-based delicacies, like cheeseburgers and spaghetti.

However, when he spots a cockroach, he mischievously tricks his brother into believing it's the land dwellers' equivalent to shrimp in the ocean, and his brother actually eats it.

When asked about the inspiration behind this scene, Momoa recalls that he pitched the idea to the director, believing that the protagonist mischievously "torturing" his younger brother adds a touch of humanity to the film.

The sequel, which was released across the Chinese mainland on Dec 20, two days earlier than in North America, held top position in the box-office charts for five consecutive days as of Wednesday, grossing around 270 million yuan.