David Yates must be listening to a lot of Baltimora right now. According to Vulture, the "Harry Potter" director has signed on for the Warner Bros. reboot of Tarzan. Per Vulture, "Man of Steel" star Henry Cavill or perhaps even Tom Hardy could enjoy jungle life as the title nature boy. (Deadline.com first reported Yates' interest in "Tarzan" back in August of this year.)
"Tarzan," based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs books, has been gestating at the studio since May of 2011. As Deadline.com reported at the time, Warner Bros. commissioned two scripts for the film: one from Craig Brewer ("Footloose") and one from Adam Cozad, the latter of whom wrote the upcoming Paramount film "Jack Ryan."
Roughly one month later, in June of 2011, Brewer nabbed the job and was tasked with launching what would be a "Tarzan" trilogy.
"It's been a passion project for me for years," he told Movieline at the time. "I grew up watching the old Edgar Rice Burroughs movie [adaptations] on this channel called TV 44 when I was a kid and then in high school, I got into the [Tarzan] books so when I met with Warner Bros., I had a certain idea and they liked it. We're going to see how it works but I really just want to get in there, make a Tarzan movie and bring him back."
Brewer turned his "Tarzan" script in to Warner Bros. in October, but whether that draft will be used is unclear. Vulture's report, however, mentions that Brewer is no longer attached to the film.
For Yates, the decision to direct "Tarzan" ends his own lengthy speculation period. In August of 2011, HitFix.com reporter Drew McWeeny wrote that Yates and "Harry Potter" writer Steve Kloves were reuniting for an adaptation of Stephen King's "The Stand." That project never happened, however, and Yates moved on to the drama "Your Voice in My Head." The film was set to star Emma Watson, but Yates had to back out due to scheduling issues. Watson is no longer attached.
For more on "Tarzan," including which other stars might appear as the lead character, head over to Vulture.
[via Vulture]