Furious 7 director wanted for Aquaman

James Wan is a wanted man. Warner Bros. are sounding out the director to helm their upcoming superhero film version of DC character Aquaman.

Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa is already in place to play the sea-faring hero in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and a standalone film has been fast-tracked by the studio. There are currently two writers developing different scripts for the project.

Wan has emerged as a hot property this year following the impressive success of Furious 7. He had previously made his name as a horror director, helming the first Saw film as well as Insidious, The Conjuring and Insidious 2. He will next be working on sequel The Conjuring: The Enfield Poltergeist.

Insiders have told The Hollywood Reporter that no formal offer has been made, but preliminary talks have taken place.

A potential stumbling block could be the ongoing success of Furious 7. Universal will certainly push ahead with another sequel, and Wan would be in pole-position to direct it. Whereas there has been no release date announced for Furious 8, Aquaman is to debut on 27 July 2018 and will need to begin pre-production soon.