After lording over the Harry Potter series for four films, director David Yates is skewing old-school for his next literary adaptation: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan. Vulture confirms the director is locked in at Warner Brothers for a deal that’ll see him bring the “Lord of the Apes” back to the big screen once again. And the director reportedly wants a name actor as well; in the realm of a Henry Cavill, Charlie Hunnam, Alexander Skarsgård or Tom Hardy. It sounds like Yates is trying to get meetings with all these names, though the studio has their heart set on Hardy at this point.
I’m surprised that Hollywood is going back to Burroughs material so soon after John Carter crashed and burned for Disney last summer. The town has certainly shunned Mars ever since. Tarzan is of course a more recognizable brand than Carter. Then again, that did Casper Van Dien no favors with Tarzan and the Lost City.