Aquaman director James Wan just seems like a cool guy, in addition to being a great filmmaker. He only recently finished working on the DC movie, which will be released next month. In the meantime, he took time to answer some questions from two young film fans, and gave advice to an aspiring director.
As you can see, James Wan shows some "fantastic" enthusiasm when the young girl mentions wanting to go into directing. Here's his advice to her:
It's so easy for you to just sort of make something and for it to be seen, right? Use your phone or get a little camera and just shoot something and put it together, I think that's the best way, you know? The more you shoot, the more you write your scripts, the more you edit you just get better and better. And so, like they say, practice makes you better.
Practice makes you better, as opposed to perfect. That's probably a good tip on its own. The start of the video is also fun, with James Wan talking about his huge toy collection, and saying he actually colored his hair again to look more like his own toy. He was asked about his favorite toy, and answered that he really likes his Batman The Dark Knight Returns comic figure riding the horse.
It's clear James Wan is a true comic book fan, which helps since he's adapting another DC Comics character with Aquaman. Wan and company spent two full years working on the film, and he was clearly exhausted (but proud) when it was finally complete.
Aquaman just showed off more of Arthur Curry's backstory in the final trailer. The film also had a big premiere in China. And somehow we only just found out that Julie Andrews will have a key voice role in the movie (while not appearing in the competing Disney film Mary Poppins Returns).
James Wan is still best known as a horror director, from Saw and Insidious to The Conjuring franchise, but he also branched out into mainstream blockbusters with Furious 7. He recently talked to ComicBook.com about mandating his own vision for Aquaman:
It was very important for me early on to be allowed to make my own film and to have my own voice be in there. After Furious 7 and Conjuring 2, I didn't want to be a director for hire. After Furious 7, that's kind of who I was to some degree, but after that, I don't want to be that guy again. So, it was very important for me to be able to bring my own stamp, my own visual aesthetic, create the characters.
After many years in the industry, 41-year-old James Wan has definitely moved past "director for hire." But maybe part of his advice to aspiring filmmakers would be to note that he did pay those dues himself.
Aquaman is due in theaters on December 21. Here's what else is still ahead in 2018, and coming soon in 2019.
