Photo: Screen Rant
Aquaman, which passed $1 billion globally on Saturday, made James Wan the eighth director to score two movies with these earnings.
Wan’s first film to achieve this was Furious 7, which grossed $1.5 billion in 2015.
The director joined filmmakers Chris Nolan (The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises), Michael Bay (Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) Joss Whedon (The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron), Pierre Coffin (Minions and Despicable Me 3), the Russo Bros. (Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War), and James Cameron (Titanic and Avatar) in this elite group.
Aquaman, whose earnings worldwide currently total $1.02 billion, reached several other milestones. The superhero film’s earnings surpassed those of The Dark Knight, which grossed $1.004 billion in 2008, and The Dark Knight Rises, which earned $1.084 billion in 2012.
The DC movie is also the first film produced outside of Walt Disney and Universal/Comcast to earn $1 billion since Paramount/Viacom’s Transformers: Age of Extinction. The Transformers sequel grossed $1.1 billion worldwide in summer 2014.
Aquaman is the highest earning Warner Bros. film outside of the Harry Potter, Dark Knight, and Middle Earth franchises.
The King of Atlantis’ story reached the $1-billion mark mainly due to its international success. Aquaman earned $713 million in the international box office and is expected to surpass $775 million by the time it leaves theaters.
Aquaman’s domestic earnings are expected to skyrocket during the weekend after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The film earned close to $286 million in the U.S., but it is expected to surpass the $300-million mark this weekend.
h/t Forbes
