Image: Warner Bros.
Tarzan isn’t exactly what you would call a popular character in the current cultural landscape. While people as young as 24 fondly remember the 1999 Disney film, the latest version of the character is Warner Bros.’ The 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan, starring Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie, didn’t exactly leave audiences wanting more. But since we make films for basically everything, it’s time to grab a vine and see if luck swings twice.
According to , Sony is now in control of the screen of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic pulp hero. First on the list is a new film that’s rumored to be a “total reinvention” of character and ownership, whatever that means in this context. (Maybe they’re taking him to space?) No creative team has been attached yet, but that news will come in time. Sony often does their best to get certain films into production and into theaters, and this feels like they’re working really hard to make it happen.
Tarzan had a long history of being adapted into films, television, and even radio plays. For the former, it all started with Elmo Lincoln as the adult version of the ape-man in the 1918 silent film Tarzan of the Apes. Lincoln would portray the character in two sequels, then the role would go to actors Gene Pollar and Frank Merrill in 1920 and 1928, respectively. But the most popular live-action Tarzan would arguably be Johnny Weissmuller, starting with 1932’s Tarzan of the Apes. Weissmuller played Tarzan for a dozen films and is considered the longest-lasting Tarzan on screen.
But the most important question surrounding Sony’s Tarzan is: will they find a composer better than Phil Collins to score the film, or will they try to get Collins to do it again? Is Disney working on a Tarzan remake like they’re doing Hercules, Little Mermaid, and every other ’90s childhood movie that helped make it famous?
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