As part of Entertainment Weekly’s big Aquaman reveal, they spoke to newly appointed Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich. This is definitely one of the strangest interviews I’ve read, because Emmerich answers a lot of the questions candidly as an executive, not as a PR hype machine. He answers questions in a way that we’re not used to hearing.

For example, just look at how Emmerich answered the very first question that Entertainment Weekly asked:

What excites you about having Aquaman in your pipeline? That it’s coming out this year. I’m excited to have it in as the last Warner Bros. release in 2018.

Even Entertainment Weekly seemed taken aback by the response, because they followed up with “Let me ask that a different way: What excites you creatively about the project?”.

Later in the interview, Emmerich was asked why December 21st is the right time to release Aquaman. Emmerich wanted everyone to know that he didn’t pick the date and that they want to release the movie as soon as possible.

What made the Dec 21 date the right time to release it? I didn’t pick the date. The honest answer is we’re excited about the movie, we want to release it as soon as we can, and that’s the soonest it can be ready for a giant tentpole date. The world is changing — look at Black Panther, that came out in February — so any date can be a tentpole date. But this is the soonest that it can be ready and we’re happy it didn’t miss the year.

But the most interesting part of the interview is when Emmerich was asked about Aquaman being a joke in pop culture, and what worries him the most about releasing an Aquaman movie. His first thought? That the movie may not be ready in time for that December 21st date.

For decades Aquaman was this mocked character in pop culture, in places like Entourage and other shows. What’s the most worried thought about Aquaman you’ll admit to having? My most worried thought is it won’t be ready in time. I thought it was a clever gag in Entourage. I think it works as a gag. But I know it works as a movie. I know the character and the world is worthy of a movie. One doesn’t undermine the other to me.

Aquaman is a very CGI heavy movie, and those kinds of special effects take a long time to get right. That’s probably where Emmerich’s worry stems from. We haven’t even seen a trailer yet because director James Wan wants the CGI to look perfect there too (though it’s been confirmed for Comic-Con next month).

Head on over to Entertainment Weekly to read their full interview with Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich, and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly