Arthur Curry is not just the King of the Seven Seas. He’s the King of the Box Office, as Aquaman has just propelled past The Dark Knight and could very well be the highest grossing DC Comics movie of all time.
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With the international numbers from the weekend now being tallied, Aquaman is now sitting on a throne or $1.020 billion. It’s just behind DC Comics’ current top grosser The Dark Knight Rises, which made $1.084 billion.
Given the film’s success in the United States, China, and other markets, it wouldn’t be a terrible wager if you bet on the film passing Christopher Nolan’s conclusion in his Batman trilogy. But it is surprising that Aquaman will be DC Comics’ top earner, beating the Caped Crusader AND the Man of Steel.
Upon hearing the news that Aquaman broke the $1 billion milestone, director James Wan had to celebrate with a post on social media, in which he thanked the fans and star Jason Momoa for the epic milestone.
THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has supported this underdog. For making this non-mainstream character (and yes — with leading POC individuals in front and behind the camera!) connect on such a huge global scale. In the words of Aquaman himself, “MAHALO” 🙏
— James Wan (@creepypuppet) January 13, 2019
Momoa himself also paid tribute to the fans and their immense response to the film.
“Mahalo everyone for making Aquaman the number one movie in the world,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I love you guys. I’m so proud of this movie and everyone that worked on it CHEEEEEHUUUUUUUU Aloha.”
Wan told ComicBook.com he wanted to make an original film in the shared superhero universe, and Aquaman allowed him to create his own section of the world by creating the kingdom of Atlantis.
“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,” Wan 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.
“So it was important for me to obviously pay a respect to where he was left off in [Justice League], but then allow me the freedom to take him to where I want to take him at the end of the movie. My hero goes on this hero’s journey to become someone very different than where he started. That was something that was very important for me. But the movie I want to make, that I was allowed that freedom to do that.”
Aquaman is now playing in theaters everywhere.
