'Aquaman' director James Wan thinks it's a 'f-ing disgrace' that the movie was snubbed for a visual effects Oscar nomination
- "Aquaman," which has made nearly $850 million worldwide, was snubbed from the Oscars visual effects shortlist, and director James Wan was not pleased.
- "The fact that your VFX peers in the Academy aren't recognizing or appreciating what we/you've all contributed to the film and cinema is a f---ing disgrace," Wan said in a Facebook reply to "Aquaman" effects supervisor Kelvin McIlwain.
- Wan told Business Insider last month that "Aquaman" has over 2,000 visual effects shots.
Audiences around the world are responding well to the underwater adventures of "Aquaman," and the movie has made $846 million globally. But the Oscars are another story.
"Aquaman" was excluded from the visual effects Oscars shortlist, which includes ten movies that will be shaved down to five nominees when nominations are announced on January 22. The shortlist includes other superhero blockbusters like "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."
READ MORE: 'Aquaman' director James Wan chose the character 'everyone makes fun of' because there'd be less pressure. Then the DC Comics franchise imploded.
The movie's director, James Wan, voiced his displeasure with this via a comment on an old Facebook post, as first noticed by The Wrap this week. "Aquaman" visual effects supervisor Kelvin McIlwain responded to Wan's post from December 20, when "Aquaman" was released, with "Congrats James, It was such an honor to be a part of this creative endeavor and to work with you again. Cheers!!!!"
Wan replied on December 21, "Kelvin, you and your department are the unsung heroes of this film. The fact that your VFX peers in the Academy aren't recognizing or appreciating what we/you've all contributed to the film and cinema is a f---ing disgrace."
Wan talked to Business Insider last month about the visual effects in "Aquaman," and said that the underwater shots were "a big part of the film we had to get right. If we didn't get the underwater stuff looking correct, we pretty much don't have a film."
"The visual-effects process was very organic," Wan added. "We continued to discover new things that worked, or things that didn't work, literally up until the very last minute that they took it from us."
Wan told Business Insider that there are over 2,000 visual effects shots in "Aquaman," and "every single shot has a visual-effects component to it."
Below are the 10 movies on the Oscars visual effects shortlist:
- "Ant-Man and the Wasp"
- "Avengers: Infinity War"
- "Black Panther"
- "Christopher Robin"
- "First Man"
- "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom"
- "Mary Poppins Returns"
- "Ready Player One"
- "Solo: A Star Wars Story"
- "Welcome to Marwen"