As you may recall, James Wan had been developing an Aquaman spinoff that was set to be a full-on monster movie, centered on the ocean-dwelling race of creatures that made a memorable appearance in Wan’s 2018 superhero movie. It was to be titled The Trench, but unfortunately we’ve learned the news this week that Warner Bros. has killed the project.
THR reports today that WB is no longer moving forward with The Trench.
“As part of our DC slate, some legacy development titles including New Gods and The Trench will not be moving forward,” Warner Bros. and DC tell THR. “We thank our partners Ava DuVernay, Tom King, James Wan and Peter Safran for their time and collaboration during this process and look forward to our continued partnership with them on other DC stories. The projects will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future.”
THR adds, “Sources say the upcoming Aquaman sequel was considered enough, but Warners could come back to it down the line if there is thirst for more adventures set in the Atlantean kingdoms. It was also considered a possibility for streaming, but it is more of a standalone story rather than having a strong tying into Aquaman or the rest of the DC universe.”
Last we heard, Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald had been hired to write the script.
James Wan was on board to produce The Trench, described as a “monster horror movie.”