Missed ‘Aquaman’ at the movies? Gotcha!

Readers of Monday’s Variety could be forgiven for thinking they had been in the dark about the biggest movie of the year.

Huge letters spread across two pages in the Hollywood trade publication declared that the new James Cameron film “Aquaman,” starring Vincent Chase, was the “biggest box office splash in history,” racking up an astounding $116 million in its opening weekend.

The ad did not mention that “Aquaman” only exists in the fictional parallel universe of HBO’s “Entourage,” which follows the travails of Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier), a hot young star who is flanked at all times by his brother and two childhood friends.

The show, which started its third season this month, is avidly watched in Hollywood because of its sharp portrayal of the entertainment-industry culture. Cameron, who plays an eponymous director in the series, told The Times recently that acquaintances have actually asked him about “Aquaman,” believing that it’s a real movie.

HBO decided to place the ad in Variety as a nod to the show’s insider appeal, said Courteney Monroe, HBO’s senior vice president of consumer marketing.

“The show is a nice mix of reality and fiction, and we saw this as a true extension of that,” she said.

While the cable network also launched a sizable marketing campaign for the general public, executives saw the Variety ad as a sly joke that would appeal to the program’s core fans.

“Hollywood and the industry is the source of a lot of talk,” Monroe said. “The more we can harness that, it amplifies the effort.”

Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of “Titanic,” signed off on it first, of course.

“He got a huge kick out it,” she said.