Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Legend of Tarzan: King of the jungle goes all Dark Knight in film's first trailer

'You are lord of the apes, king of the jungle'

Jack Shepherd
Thursday 10 December 2015 09:40 GMT
Comments
Poster for The Legend of Tarzan
Poster for The Legend of Tarzan (Warner Bros.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Following Disney’s lead of converting beloved classics into dark, live action adaptions, Warner Bros are releasing a new Tarzan film -The Legend of Tarzan - and the first trailer has just been released.

Unlike the previous 200 hundred films based on the man-ape (yes, there have been over 200 Tarzan films since his first appearance in the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel in 1912) this latest take on the hero follows the titular character as he returns to the jungle, having already married Jane and been made Lord Greystoke.

You probably wouldn’t have guessed that from the trailer, which seems to show a straight up origin story for Alexander Skarsgård’s character. Watch below.

Director David Yates has seemingly taken the pale grunts from the latest Mad Max film, made Christopher Waltz the villain (as always), and added a whole load of Dark Knight vibes to create an epic, well-trodden adventure.

Margot Robbie stars in the film as love interest Jane Porter, Samuel Jackson as the nonfictional civil war veteran George Washington Williams, and Blood Diamond’s Djimon Hounsou as a war chief.

The Legend of Tarzan has been a long time coming, having had numerous directors attached to the tale - including Guillermo del Toro - since 2003. Only in 2012 did Yates enter into negotiations to direct.

The most popular Tarzan film in recent memory was the beloved Disney adaption released in 1999, which was - at the time - the most expensive animated film ever created.

The Legend of Tarzan will be released in cinemas on 8 July 2016.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in