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SYFY WIRE Aquaman

No clownfish-ing around, Aquaman is now the highest-grossing DC movie in history

By Josh Weiss
Aquaman Jason Momoa

Arthur Curry is now the king of Atlantis AND the king of the box office. Today, Aquaman surpassed The Dark Knight Rises in terms of global sales to become the highest-grossing DC film in history, according to Box Office Mojo.

The James Wan-directed superhero movie now stands at $1.09 billion. Domestically speaking, however, it's still at No. 6, behind The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Wonder Woman, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad. If you adjust for inflation, Aquaman falls all the way to No. 12, behind DC features like the two Tim Burton Batman projects, Superman II, and Batman Forever.

Nevertheless, Aquaman's international box-office achievement should be a huge relief for the Warner Bros. folks behind the DC Extended Universe, who (Wonder Woman notwithstanding) have not been able to catch a break. They should feel a lot more confident now as they ramp up production on Birds of Prey and get closer to the theatrical release of Shazam!

Penned by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Orphan) and Will Beall (Gangster Squad), Aquaman's solo outing finds Arthur (Jason Momoa) attempting to stop his half-brother, King Orm (Patrick Wilson), from becoming Ocean Master and waging all-out war on the surface world for polluting the seas. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays the movie's secondary villain, the iconic Black Manta, who is set up to have a much larger role in the next installment. Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, and Willem Dafoe all co-star.

A sequel to Aquaman is already in the works at Warner Bros. with Wan most likely returning to direct.