Two weeks ahead of its U.S. debut, "Aquaman" has stormed Chinese theaters and scored several box office records in the country, "swimming" past other DC films.

Warner Bros. (WB)/DC's new superhero solo film garnered an opening day gross of 156 million yuan (about 23 million U.S. dollars) on Friday and raked in more than 650 million yuan (94.5 million U.S. dollars) during the opening weekend, according to Maoyan.com, a leading film database in China, securing the best debut ever for any WB title in the Chinese market.

Directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa as the titular hero, "Aquaman" follows Arthur Curry's adventurous journey to become the king of Atlantis, the mysterious underwater kingdom, as well as the seven seas.

The action-packed adventure film, which already took a shining bow on opening day, continued its giant splash on Saturday with some 265 million yuan (38.5 million U.S. dollars) in box office take, marking the highest single-day record in December at the Chinese box office.

Factoring in Sunday's numbers, "Aquaman" has far surpassed the opening weekends of fellow DC titles such as "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (55 million U.S. dollars) and "Wonder Woman" (37.7 million U.S. dollars), remarkably exceeding the latter's total China gross of 89 million U.S. dollars in just three days.

'Best superhero title this year'

Aside from multiple box office records, "Aquaman" is also receiving strong word of mouth, with many calling it "the best superhero title in 2018" and some describing it as "the underwater version of 'Avatar.'"

Its positive sentiment online is extremely high with a score of 9.5 on Maoyan.com and 9.4 on Taopiaopiao.com – two of China's leading movie ticketing websites – and 8.1 on Douban.com, a Rotten Tomato-like film rating website, which is arguably the best score among this year's superhero films.

"We finally see the best DC film in recent years. James Wan, like [James] Cameron and Peter Jackson, created a perfect blend of numerous elements, including action, adventure, fiction and superhero. It is the best superhero film since 'The Dark Knight,'" reads the most popular short review by Douban user "Lingrui," referring to the film's superb visual effects and grand action scenes.

"The underwater scenes are better than expected, and this is how an oceanic superhero feature film should be," said Douban user "Film Journal," adding "A DC film helmed by James Wan is no longer dull or dark. The storyline is dramatic and complete, making it as attractive as his horror films, drawing you to the bottom of the sea."

"Aquaman" fever quickly spread on social media following its release, with "AquamanIsAwesome" soon becoming one of the hottest hashtags on China's Twitter-like Weibo on opening day and accumulating more than 80 million views.

"James Wan's new DC title has some typical elements as well as some surprises!" film critic Fei Speaking on Films said, praising the battle scenes, action scenes, visual effects and director's remarkable narrative techniques. "This film has comedic plots, spectacular visual effects, and moving emotions. A 140-minute film stuffed with everything is by no means long, don't miss it!"

A sequel to be expected

Though some pointed out that the typical superhero storyline remains its weakness, the early overseas success in both box office take and critics' reviews, in China at least, is undoubtedly good news for WB and DC, especially after the disappointment of last fall's "Justice League," the lowest-grossing DC installment.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, WB has already begun the "talks for an 'Aquaman' sequel" with many things still at an early stage and no further details confirmed. 

Many DC fans, including some members of the Chinese audience, also expressed hope in their reviews that the studios will bring Wan back to the director's chair.

A wide international rollout begins this week, and the studios indeed see the strong China launch as a hugely encouraging sign.

It is also noteworthy that the film is set to face stiff competition as Disney's "Mary Poppins Returns" and the "Transformers" spinoff "Bumblebee" will go head-to-head with it during the crowded holiday season, especially for its U.S. release on December 21.

"Aquaman" will head to 40 more offshore markets this week, including the UK and Australia on December 12 and 13, respectively. 

(Cover: Actor Jason Momoa autographs an item for a Chinese fan at the press conference for the film "Aquaman" in Beijing, China, November 18, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(Video contributed by Qi Jie.)