Back before the vast majority of us were born, Tarzan one was one of the most impressive heroes of the silver screen. Almost a century later after appearing in his first novel, the ape man is coming back in a non-Disney fashion.
Rather Craig Brewer is going to write and direct a new trilogy about the jungle man for Warner Bros. I didn’t recognize his name right off the bat either, but he’s the director of HUSTLE AND FLOW, BLACK SNAKE MOAN and the upcoming FOOTLOOSE remake.
Warners is determined to relaunch the Tarzan franchise because well, it’s a potential franchise, and any profitable one is usually a cash cow with an unlimited number of sequels to follow. They’re only talking about a trilogy now, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that a money making series will keep spawning installments forever.
So how does one update Tarzan for modern audiences? Shia LaBeouf swinging through vines was arguably the worst part of KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, so what will he have to do to be relevant to today’s audiences to work as a primal action hero?