Some filmmakers can get surly or defensive when discussing their work on social media. James Wan simply asks for your decency.
Wan is the director of ‘Aquaman,’ the latest DCEU release that opened last month to middling reviews but a monstrous box office. The undersea adventure, starring Jason Momoa in the title role, just won the North American weekend again in its second week of release with a $51.6 million (Dh189.5 million) take, according to Sunday estimates — and has grossed more than $750 million worldwide.
So although ‘Aquaman’ could soon become the DC universe’s highest-grossing movie yet, some fans apparently still feel the need to go after any detractors.
“It has come to my attention that some folks are getting harassed by some fans for not liking AQM,” Wan tweeted on Sunday evening. “Please don’t do that.”
That is “not the kind of support I want,” added Wan, whose biggest hit is ‘Furious 7’ ($1.52 billion worldwide gross). “Be respectful.”
And though Wan is tolerant of detractors, he has no time for the vitriol.
“It’s ok to not like my film,” he tweeted to his more than 225,000 followers, “but there’s no need to attack me personally, or tag me on hates. Peace.”
Wan is taking a measured approach to responding to the kind of blowback that trails so many franchise films.
The actor Ahmad Best tweeted this past summer that because of the harsh criticism he began receiving two decades ago for playing Jar Jar Binks in the ‘Star Wars’ prequels, he contemplated suicide.
Other ‘Star Wars’ actors, such as Kelly Marie Tran (who also goes by Loan Tran) and Daisy Ridley, have previously sworn off social media following backlash. Tran was bullied online after portraying Rose Tico — the first leading ‘Star Wars’ role played by a woman of colour — in ‘The Last Jedi’; in August, she wrote that she was reclaiming her narrative.
Also this past summer, ‘Last Jedi’ writer-director Rian Johnson deleted 20,000 tweets, explaining that he didn’t want to keep potential fodder posted if “trolls scrutinising it for ammunition is the new normal.”
