Heading for the deep end

An upcoming superhero film creates an underwater universe for viewers, Xu Fan reports.

"Woo-hoo!" With this atypical greeting, US actor Jason Momoa strides into the room in a downtown Beijing hotel. Alongside him is director James Wan and actress Amber Heard.

As China will be the first country in the world to see Warner Brothers' and DC Entertainment's latest $160 million superhero film, Aquaman, the stars arrived in the Middle Kingdom's capital to start their global promotion tour.

This tour exemplifies how Hollywood values China-the world's second-largest movie market that many industry insiders estimate will overtake the current top dog, the United States, in a few years.

Aquaman is slated to be released in China on Dec 7, two weeks earlier than in North America.

And it marks the first time that domestic viewers will watch a DC superhero epic earlier than the rest of the world.