Aquaman and Lost Kingdom set to make a splash

James Wan's fantasy adventure film "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," a sequel to the 2018 box office success "Aquaman" will hit cinemas across China on December 20, two days before its North America release.

Director James Wan and leading actor Jason Momoa arrived in Shanghai on Friday following their first stop in Beijing.

Momoa said he feels lucky to have so much love from China and the beautiful city of Shanghai.

"When you look at the buildings on the banks of the river, it reminds me of Atlantis," Momoa said during a cruise tour along the Huangpu River on Friday evening. "The city is beautiful."

Director Wan said he grew up watching movies about Shanghai, but his first impression on the city is that it is futuristic and amazing.

The first installment of the "Aquaman" franchise made more than 2 billion yuan (US$ 280 million) at the box office of the Chinese mainland.

Compared to the first chapter, director Wan noted that the technology has improved, enabling actors to focus on their acting.

"We explore more of Atlantis, see how it works, and portray the glamor of the world," Wan said. "We also expand on the other sea worlds and get to experience other characters."

In the movie, Aquaman and his brother Orm form an unexpected alliance to safeguard their nation and stop Black Manta, the villain of the movie.

"Sharing a similar version, they have to put up with each other and set aside their differences so that they can achieve the goal collectively, but they still don't like each other," Wan added with a laugh.

This story also allowed him to create characters that are a little bit darker and more scary. But they are still vibrant and fun.

The Australian filmmaker and screenwriter, who is of Malaysian Chinese descent, is famous for directing "Saw," "Dead Silence," "The Conjuring" and "Fast and Furious 7."

When asked about the secret to directing so many successful movies, Wan said that he doesn't really have a secret, but probably the most important thing for him, from a storytelling standpoint, is creating characters that audiences can relate to.

"If you create characters that people can see in themselves in, you can put them into whatever genre – horror, science fiction, and action," he explained.

Wan also pointed out that a good movie is a combination and balance of technology and story.

"It's a reason why the highly technical 'Aquaman' could not be made 12 years ago," he said. "But a film is still about the characters and the story you try to tell."

As for Momoa, he has experienced the evolution of the character in the second film.

"James likes to torture us," joked Momoa. "He made many fun characters, but they were not real. So we had to act by ourselves with imagination."

The film will screen several visually stunning excerpts at the SFC Dolby Auditorium of Shanghai Film Art Center on Saturday evening.

Before the screening, the crew will meet their Chinese fans and interact with the 1,000 viewers at the screening hall.

They will also promote the movie through various film events in Chengdu and Guangzhou following the Shanghai stop.