Tarzan has been on Hollywood’s backburner for years now. The fictional hero of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ timeless novels has starred in roughly 90 movies since 1918, and was most famously portrayed by Johnny Weissmuller in the 1930s and ’40s. But a new version of the ape-man may swing into theaters as part of an updated adventure that would stretch over three films.
The pitch comes from writer-director Craig Brewer, who according to Deadline is working with Warner Bros. on a rejuvenated Tarzan story that the studio plans to turn into a trilogy. Screenwriter Adam Cozad has been hired to pen the script. His other credits include the planned Jack Ryan reboot and Archangel, which has attracted Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. No details on how Tarzan would be differently, exactly. There’s only so much you can do with the basic premise of an orphan raised by apes, so I’m intrigued to see how massive this story is that Brewer thinks he can expand it over three films.
On a related note, what happened to Brewer? The guy previously directed the passionate Hustle & Flow and the provocative Black Snake Moan. Since then, he has moved on to a Footloose remake and now a Tarzan reboot. Maybe it was Brewer’s intention all along to go mainstream, but the filmmaking voice and attitude I heard in those first two films didn’t suggest a guy content to coast on safer projects such as these.
