Tarzan could again bring his loincloth and jungle cry to the silver screen. Filmmaker Craig Brewer has inked a deal to write and direct a new feature-film trilogy featuring the King of the Apes, who first began to swing from jungle vines in novels penned by Edgar Rice Burroughs nearly a century ago.
Brewer is best known for “Hustle & Flow” (2005) with Taraji P. Henson and a starmaking turn by Terrence Howard. He also wrote and directed “Black Snake Moan” (2007) with Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake.
Next up is the reboot of “Footloose,” which hits the silver screen October 14 with newcomer Kenny Wormald taking over the role made famous by Kevin Bacon.
The new “Tarzan” is “a passion project for Brewer, who is in demand after directing the remake of ‘Footloose’ for Paramount, and chose this over other opportunities,” said Deadline.com.
Although Brewer is “locked in” to his deal with Warner Bros., the studio has not yet flashed a green light. Plans in 2006 and ’08 for Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) and Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy”) to revamp the property stalled at the starting line.
“Brewer is certainly talented and the Tarzan story is most definitely a universally loved and exciting one, but does the world want another Tarzan story?” asked SlashFilm.com.
“It’s an interesting choice… His last two films explored music and the upcoming ‘Footloose’ remake continues that trend. This will be something different from him,” said AintItCool.com. “The films have all touched on Burroughs’ books in different ways, but none of them have quite gotten them right.”
Trivia: “Tarzan 3D,” a new animated film from director Reinhard Klooss and Germany’s Constantin Film, is already in production. Walt Disney‘s animated “Tarzan“—featuring the voices of Glenn Close, Minnie Driver, Tony Goldwyn and Rosie O’Donnell, accompanied by the Oscar-winning tune “You’ll Be In my Heart” by Phil Collins—was released back in 1999.
Trivia: Nearly 100 films featuring the Tarzan character have been produced over the past 90 years, going back to the early silent film era.
CLICK HERE for the Deadline.com story.