'Aquaman' Projected to Cross $1 Billion at Box Office This Weekend

After quickly becoming a success at the box office upon its release in December, Aquaman is finally looking to break the coveted $1 billion mark.

According to Deadline, this weekend's box office sales should place Aquaman over the $1 billion hurdle. The film currently sits at $702.9 million in international markets, and adding in the domestic totals puts it at whopping $971.5 million worldwide. It should have no problem earning the $28.5 million it needs by Saturday, especially considering it made $31 million last weekend in the North America alone.

By the end of the weekend, Aquaman will become just the 37th movie in history to pass $1 billion, and the first movie in the current DCEU to do so. In fact, it will just be the third DC film to ever cross the threshold. The only other DC movies to pass $1 billion are The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. Aquaman should have no problem beating the total of the former at the box office, considering it just barely passed $1 billion. However, Dark Knight Rises will be a little harder to catch, with a total close to $1.1 billion.

While it may not pass The Dark Knight Rises in the overall global box office tally, Aquaman has already become the highest grossing DC film internationally. $284.9 million of the film's total comes from China, where it already the second-biggest superhero movie in the country's history.

A lot of the success of Aquaman can be credited to director James Wan, who had a much different vision for the classic comic character than many would have expected. During the film's press tour, Wan spoke to ComicBook.com about his decision to take on the property, and he said that WB's willingness to let him make Aquaman his own had a lot to do with it.

"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," he said. "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. Even though Jason has somewhat been established Justice League, I wanted to bring his character into this, basically, fresh in a lot of ways."

Aquaman is now playing in theaters worldwide.