David Yates has eyed quite the eclectic collection of possible directorial vehicles since he helmed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (which was also the fourth film in the series directed by Yates). That includes a Doctor Who movie, an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, the Al Capone biopic Cicero – and Tarzan, the latest in a line of over 90 films based around Edgar Rice Burroughs’ famous ape-man character.
Yates was one of three candidates previously-reported to be in the running for the Tarzan job, along with directors Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) and Susanna White (Boardwalk Empire). We now have confirmation that Yates has committed to the project, which reunites him with Warner Bros. (the studio behind the iconic boy wizard franchise).
Warner Bros. took an unusual, but intelligent, approach to assembling yet another Tarzan flick. Namely, the studio hired both Adam Cozad (co-writer on Jack Ryan) and Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Footloose (2011)) to pen dual scripts, so that executives could choose from two different approaches to the source material. When we spoke to Brewer last year, he referred to his Tarzan screenplay as “the best thing that I’ve ever written,” but wasn’t sure when the project would move forward; as of now, it appears he is officially out as director.
Craig Brewer’s ‘Tarzan’ is (apparently) no longer happening
Vulture makes no mention of Cozad in its report about Yates committing to direct Tarzan, so it’s apparently feasible that Warner Bros. is using Brewer’s script draft. Who knows, maybe studio heads passed on having Brewer direct because they wanted someone with more experience in the area of big-budget filmmaking at the helm (like Yates). Of course, for the time being, that’s pure speculation.
Yates seems to be focused right now on finding the ideal candidate to don Tarzan’s loincloth in the film. Among the actors who are said to be meeting with the director in the near future are Immortals star Henry Cavill (who plays Superman in next year’s Man of Steel), Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood, Battleship) and Sons of Anarchy lead Charlie Hunnam – who will be bumped up to leading man status in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim next summer. Tom Hardy (who’s attached to star in Cicero, whenever it happens) is reported to be on Warner Bros.’ wish-list, but there’s no indication yet as to whether or not the Dark Knight Rises alum is even interested.
Cavill, Skarsgård and Hunnam, as it were, are essentially all in the same boat. Each hunky actor has a solid fanbase, but needs that one major breakout role to become a full-fledged bankable lead. As far as how their acting chops compare, well, feel free to debate that in the comments section.
Skarsgård, Cavill, and Hunnam – which one could be the new Tarzan?
Skarsgård is the one of the above trio who does not yet have a blockbuster in his future; then again, Hunnam and Cavill already have healthy working relationships with Warner Bros. However, the latter’s ties to the Superman property might discourage the studio from letting Cavill lead two of its most lucrative franchises right off the bat. Bear in mind, things are just beginning to take shape on the new Tarzan movie, so it’s possible another actor altogether will eventually land the titular role.
More on David Yates’ Tarzan movie as the story develops.
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Source: Vulture
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Charlie Hunnam he deserves it
Agreed. Hunnam’s a great actor, he could really use an iconic film role like this. Cavill’s good too but he’s already got Superman (and justice league?) going for him. Plus Hunnam looks good with long hair.
i fully agree with u plus I can’t stand the dude from true blood
Cavill is the best choice IMO. His work in The Immotals was excellent.
I say Cavill he’s a pretty good actor
Tarzan has had literally dozens of movie/TV incarnations. I really don’t know if we need yet another one.
While the Tarzan stories are not among Burroughs’ best writing, there IS some great stuff there. I’d love to see an adaptation that was closer to his original (and in that time period, not “updated”) – and there were 25 sequels. Is this another franchise-building move? I was hopeful for “John Carter” as a franchise of films, those would be more entertaining to a wider audience, IMHO. But I’d love to see a new generation of people find out about Burroughs.
The only reason I read A Princess of Mars is because of John Carter, so that happened at least a little bit.
what about the guy that did the new Conan movie
Haven’t read the book (yet) but I’m not sure how well modern audiences will react to a jungle man jumping around in his butt-flap. I could be wrong though.
Book? lol, more like 25. They aren’t the size of a Robert Jordan novel though (writing styles have definitely changed in the last century) so you could probably fit 4-5 of them into a single Jordan sized book.
Tarzan has been one of the most portrayed characters in the last century with movies (I looked it up…..47 movies!) and multiple TV series since the 1920′s. The reason for this is he is both exotic and easy to make movies about since the FX are pretty low.
In an age of FX laden movies, a movie of this sort might feel a bit cheap and boring by comparison.
AWESOME! I’ve been reading the first Tarzan book and it’s pretty great stuff. I hope that they don’t tone it down and stick to the source material; there’s all kinds of brutal stuff in there, like canniballism, and Tarzan is one badass MOFO.
Out of the three actors, I feel that maybe Skargard would be the best choice, as he’s a great actor who has yet to headline his own feature film, while Hunnam and Cavill have Pacific Rim and Man of Steel next year respectively. This could be his big break.
Just pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeee don’t screw this up and do a better job marketing than John Carter. If any literary character deserves his own franchise it’s Tarzan.
The danger is doing a period Tarzan. Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate have commissioned a series of new authorised Tarzan books by Andy Briggs which have real contemporary relevance for both young and adult. This is Tarzan for the 21st century.
The middle guy doesn’t appear to be white. That’d mean they’d have to change part of the story beccause he was also Lord Greystock. I don’t think there were too many non whites with titles in England in the 1800′s
Also: whoever they pick I hope they go real this time instead of the way they portrayed Tarzan in past movies and series. The but him in a loin cloth and that was about it. Beyond that most didn’t look anything like someone who lived in the wilds among the animal as an animal would look. Hell….one of he series Tarzan’s had nice clean well cut hair and looked more like a male model tha Tarzan. They need to make him actually look and act wild like in the original story. As such he also needs scars on his body as a result of rough play as a kid, and battles for his life from early teens on. I really hope they do it right this time
I think Skarsgard might be best because he looks more like an Englishman than the other two. His generally brooding appearance might work well here
Since you cannot do a Tarzan movie without Africans in any traditional way, this will require a worldwide audience to recognize current events on the Continent, or Warner Brosis looking at a world-class bomb…like John Carter; and Africa is COMPLICATED. Whatever script they go with, they better get it “right” or be ready for protests and one bell of a write-off. What actor plays Greystroke seems ancillary by comparison to that script. An unknown would be my choice.
I always thought that the best Tarzan Novel for a big screen adaption was “Tarzan and the Foreign Legion” with some flashbacks to his origns, but that is just my opinion.
You realise that the Skarsgard photo you picked for the article is not really him, right? That’s his head photoshopped by fans on another guy’s body.
I like both Cavill and Skarsgard but with Cavill already being Superman, I don’t think him becoming Tarzan as well is a good idea. Skarsgard is a very talented actor and I’m sure he can play any role they give him but will Tarzan be good enough for his first lead role? Hm.
Charlie Hunnam!