The Legend of Tarzan Feature Trailer (2016)

Feature Trailer for The Legend of Tarzan

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures comes the action adventure The Legend of Tarzan, starring Alexander Skarsgård (HBO’s True Blood) as the legendary character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The film also stars Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, the Captain America films), Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Gladiator), scar nominee John Hurt (The Elephant Man, the Harry Potter films), with Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (Iris), and two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained).

It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.

David Yates (the final four Harry Potter films, upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) directed The Legend of Tarzan from a screenplay by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer, story by Brewer and Cozad based on the Tarzan stories created by Burroughs. Legendary producer Jerry Weintraub (Behind the Candelabra, the Ocean’s trilogy) produced the film, together with David Barron (the Harry Potter films, Cinderella), Alan Riche (Southpaw) and Tony Ludwig (Starsky & Hutch). Susan Ekins, Nikolas Korda, Keith Goldberg, David Yates, Mike Richardson and Bruce Berman served as executive producers.

The behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Henry Braham (The Golden Compass), Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Craig (Dangerous Liaisons, The English Patient, the Harry Potter films), editor Mark Day (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 & 2), and Oscar-nominated costume designer Ruth Myers (Emma, Unknown). The Legend of Tarzan was shot at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, as well as on location around the UK.

Director David Yates is no stranger to directing films based on books that use a lot of CGI:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (post-production) (2016)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2000)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

This film is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Weintraub, as he died of a heart attack on July 6th, 2015. This is sadly his last film.

I must admit when I first heard that Alexander Skarsgård was set to play the role of Tarzan, I was skeptical. When I looked at him I did not see the iconic Disney wild man. There were plenty of other actors considered for the role including Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy and Charlie Hunnam.

But I must admit that after seeing the trailers so far, Alexander seems to have nailed the look. He definitely pulled off the look of Tarzan and seems to handle the action sequences. To get into Tarzan shape, Alexander spent 4 months training non-stop using a heavy weight-lifting routine and chicken diet eventually building his highly developed "Tarzan" eight pack abs. Director David Yates described Skarsgård's Tarzan look as more of a "modern man" that "still has big muscles" but is "more lean, more ripped, more vertical" than the audience has seen before.

My kids love the Disney Tarzan movie because of the fun nature and great music. But this live action take is more catered to adult audiences with the violent action sequences (plus no Disney music). At least it look better than the 2013 take on Tarzan...yeesh!