The Legend of Tarzan
Human. Nature.
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Budget
$180 000 000
Revenue
$357 243 061
Director
Scenario
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
Alexander Skarsgård
John Clayton / Tarzan
Christoph Waltz
Captain Leon Rom
Samuel L. Jackson
George Washington Williams
Margot Robbie
Jane Porter
Djimon Hounsou
Chief Mbonga
Jim Broadbent
Prime Minister
Casper Crump
Captain Kerchover
Simon Russell Beale
Mr. Frum
Short description
Years after leaving the African jungle, Tarzan lives in London as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, alongside his wife Jane. When he is asked to return to the Congo as a trade envoy, he initially refuses, insisting that Tarzan no longer exists. Pressure from the American George Washington Williams, who wants evidence of Belgian wrongdoing, and Jane's own wishes change his mind. The journey turns out to be part of a trap set by the Belgian captain Leon Rom, whose motives are revenge and greed, and the men behind the scheme are unprepared for what they set in motion.
The Legend of Tarzan was directed by David Yates and written by Stuart Beattie, Craig Brewer and John Collee. It came sixth in the chronological list of Yates's directed features, between two Fantastic Beasts films and after four Harry Potter instalments. Alexander Skarsgård plays the title role, with Christoph Waltz as Rom, Samuel L. Jackson as Williams, Margot Robbie as Jane Porter, Djimon Hounsou as Chief Mbonga and Jim Broadbent as the Prime Minister, among 42 credited cast members and 147 credited crew.
Released in 2016 and running 109 minutes, the film had a budget of 180 million USD and took 357 million USD worldwide. It is rated 6.2/10 on IMDb from 197,000 votes and 5.9/10 on TMDB from 6,627 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 5.1/10 from 258 reviews, lower than both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Samuel L. Jackson starred alongside Stellan Skarsgård in Joss Whedon's "The Avengers" (2012), as well as in Phillip Noyce's 1992 film "Patriot Games" (a sequel to "The Hunt for Red October," John McTiernan, 1990). Stellan Skarsgård is the father of Alexander Skarsgård, who played the role of Tarzan.
- Emma Stone turned down an offer to play Jane.
- Jessica Chastain was initially cast as Jane, but she left the project due to delays in the start of filming.
- This is the first live-action adaptation of the Tarzan stories created for theatrical release after the highly successful 1999 animated film "Tarzan" by Chris Buck and Kevin Lima.
- Margot Robbie is the second actress to play Jane alongside Alexander Skarsgård in a film; he previously starred with Brit Marling in "The East," where her real name was Owen Jane, under the operative alias Sarah Moss.
- The film takes place in the Congo and in London.
- During a love scene, David Yates instructed Margot Robbie to hit Alexander Skarsgård. As the director himself explained: "Sex with Tarzan cannot be refined and sophisticated, so I told Margot to hit him." "David wanted everything to look primal and animalistic. He set us up for that," said Skarsgård. "When it comes to sex, all the veneer of civilization immediately falls away from people. They become like animals." "We really weren't Alexander and Margot at that moment, but Tarzan and Jane," added Robbie.
- In the film, Tarzan wears a kind of trousers in the African jungle, rather than a simple loincloth.
- The film is based on comics from "Dark Horse Comics."
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Weintraub, a concert promoter, producer, philanthropist, and three-time Emmy Award winner. He died of a heart attack on July 6, 2015. "The Legend of Tarzan" (2016) was the last film Weintraub contributed to.
- The character of Clayton from the 1999 Walt Disney Pictures animated film "Tarzan" served as the prototype for Captain Roma.
- Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy, and Charlie Hunnam were considered for the role of Tarzan. Cavill was unable to participate in the project as he was committed to Zack Snyder's filming of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," where he played Clark Kent, i.e., Superman.
- Alexander Skarsgård underwent 4 months of continuous training to prepare for the role of Tarzan. As the actor later stated: "I practically didn't see my family during this time." Weightlifting and a special diet bore fruit. Skarsgård significantly developed his abdominal and chest muscles, which was important as his character appears shirtless. The film's director, David Yates, described Skarsgård’s Tarzan as "a man of our time," but "more muscular" than the character in previous adaptations.
- Alexander Skarsgård admitted that one of the reasons he took on the role of Tarzan was to please his father. As the actor himself said: "My father adores Tarzan. As a child, we had Tarzan films on VHS starring Johnny Weissmuller, so my acquaintance with this hero began with them. But those films are over 70 years old. So much time has passed that this screen image could use an update. Of course, I can't compare to Johnny Weissmuller, I just wanted to please my father. And he was delighted."
- Before starting training, Alexander Skarsgård was very nervous, unsure if he could build the musculature associated with the image of Tarzan. "I've never trained so intensely and actively before," he later said, "that's why I was worried. It's a serious matter. I had no idea how my body would react to all these physical loads and the special diet. But I had a fantastic trainer and nutritionist, Magnus Lågdback, I worked as hard as I could, followed all his instructions and tried not to slack off. In general, I owe all this muscle to long hours of training and a lot of chicken patties."
- Alexander Skarsgård once joked that in the next film, it would be good to make Tarzan completely different. "I myself sketched out a rough script for a film where Tarzan gained weight and his sculpted muscles became a thing of the past," the actor said. "There will be no dangers and adventures in this film, but Tarzan will eat a lot of sweets."
- Alexander Skarsgård said: "I needed to gain muscle mass and simultaneously improve muscle definition, not just get fat. When Tarzan moves through the jungle, it should be clear that this is his natural habitat, just like any jungle dweller. Therefore, I had to develop agility and flexibility. It took a lot of work, of course. Tarzan is not just a bodybuilder. He combines strength and animal flexibility."
- After agreeing to play Tarzan, Alexander Skarsgård's biggest fear was that his seven-year-old brother would think he was a "lousy Tarzan." The boy simply idolized Tarzan, and the actor didn't want to disappoint him.
- As part of the promotional campaign for the film "The Legend of Tarzan," where he is practically clothesless, Alexander Skarsgård appeared at the 25th MTV Movie Awards in 2016 to present the award for "Movie of the Year" without pants – he was wearing only a shirt, tuxedo jacket, and white underwear. "I am Tarzan," the actor said from the stage.
- David Yates stated that from the very beginning, he saw only Alexander Skarsgård in the role of Tarzan. "I knew it had to be Alex, and no one else," the director said. "It’s not easy to find an actor with the right body. You need someone who can act (and Alex can) and also have a magnificent physique, which is rare. Fortunately, Alex has both of these qualities. And Alex’s figure and posture are exactly what I imagined Tarzan to be like. In general, I originally planned to work with Alex. Of course, I met with other actors, but it was just for show. We even wrote the role of Tarzan specifically for Alex."
- Alexander Skarsgård said that walking around naked as Tarzan didn't bother him at all. "I don't want to disappoint the audience," he said. "Everyone knows that before meeting people, Tarzan never wore clothes. It would be strange if a man raised among monkeys suddenly started to blush and cover his private parts. Tarzan walked around without anything, so I had to as well. And considering the very high humidity in the jungle, it was even pleasant."
- The very first version of the script was based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950), "The Return of Tarzan" (1913) and "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar" (1916). Even this version allowed for numerous deviations from the plot of the novels, and subsequent revisions left nothing of the famous writer's storylines in the film.
- Trainer Magnus Lågdbeck told Muscle and Fitness magazine in an interview that ten days before the start of filming, the film's creators and Alexander Skarsgård realized he wasn't ready. "Ten days before the start of filming, Skarsgård took off his shirt in front of the camera for the first time since starting training. He was eating according to a special method, so he looked fit, but at the same time he looked very pale, and he also lacked muscle mass, and fat was visible in places. In fact, he looked pretty good, but not as needed for the film. David Yates was very upset," said Lågdbeck. "The muscle relief hid the fat, and the abdominal muscles were not as visible as they wanted." The actor himself later said: "I was panicking because I couldn't achieve the desired result. I ate what I was told, worked out actively twice a day, but I couldn't get rid of the fat." Lågdbeck calmed the actor down at that moment, saying that everything was okay, and that bodybuilders looked like that shortly before a competition. Changes were made to Skarsgård's diet and training schedule, "...to burn the remaining fat and remove all subcutaneous fluid from the body, thus emphasizing the muscle relief." By the start of filming, Skarsgård was in perfect shape.
- The film's premiere is scheduled for July 1, 2016. Exactly 30 years ago on this day, agent, promoter, producer, and philanthropist Jerry Weintraub founded Weintraub Entertainment Group.
- Trainer Magnus Lågdbeck said that the changes in Alexander Skarsgård's appearance amazed both the actors and the film crew. "On the first day of filming, when he took off his shirt on set for the first time, everyone was simply stunned. I heard enthusiastic whispers, and realized that we had succeeded," said Lågdbeck. "I was blown away," added Margot Robbie. "My jaw dropped, and everyone else's too. People stopped doing their jobs and openly stared, even the men. It was something. Alexander worked hard to achieve this, and the result was amazing."
- In 2012, Warner Bros. sent several people to cross Africa along the equator and choose locations for filming. Director David Yates was so impressed by the photos they brought back that he immediately went to the selected locations to see everything with his own eyes. Employees of Loango National Park in Gabon showed Yates from the plane the most remote corners of the ancient forest, where the crowns of trees form a continuous canopy, occasionally interrupted by mountain peaks, with luxurious waterfalls, and the sky reflected in the black water of the rivers. Yates literally stuck to the window. Upon his return home, he ordered the script to be rewritten to include the beauties he had seen in Gabon. Filming took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Hertfordshire, UK. After its completion, cinematographer Henry Braham flew to Gabon to film the locations indicated by Yates (which, according to the director's plan, was supposed to add plausibility to the film). A special tripod was made for the high-resolution camera, which allowed to capture majestic panoramas (160 degrees). Every day, Henry spent long hours flying over the jungle, waiting for the right lighting.
- In 1984, Hugh Hudson's film "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" starring Christopher Lambert was released. The production cost Warner Bros. a considerable sum, while the box office receipts were rather modest. Now, 32 years later, the studio bosses were understandably nervous launching another expensive Tarzan project.
- Alexander Skarsgård called his character a superhero: "In my opinion, Tarzan is a real superhero, he doesn't need capes, all sorts of clever gadgets or mutations just to be cool. His strength is in his fists. It's a story about what a person is capable of physically, about how a person learned not to fight the jungle, but to be a part of it." Producer David Barron added: "Yes, I also believe this is a superhero film. Tarzan possesses immense physical strength, and life in the jungle has sharpened all his senses to the extreme."
- Alexander Skarsgård admitted that he had to get into Tarzan's physical shape twice. The main filming took 8 months, and he first had to prepare for it. But about six months after that, there were another 3 days of filming, so the actor had to go back on a special diet and start exercising again. "I was on a special diet and worked out for 8 months to get in shape. It wasn't easy," the actor later said. "A few months after filming finished, we had to reshoot something, and for me that meant a special diet and training all over again."
- This is the second joint work of Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson. They previously starred together in Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti western "Django Unchained" (2012). Another of their joint projects could have been "The Hateful Eight" (2015).
- The film's creative team included two actors who have received an Academy Award (Christoph Waltz and Jim Broadbent) and three nominees (Samuel L. Jackson, John Hurt, and Djimon Hounsou). Each of them had been nominated for an Academy Award at least once in the Best Supporting Actor category.
- While getting into shape for the role of Tarzan, Alexander Skarsgård pursued two goals: to gain muscle mass and improve muscle definition. Regarding the former, for the first 4 months, Skarsgård engaged in weightlifting (4-5 workouts per week) and abdominal exercises (6-7 workouts per week). The workouts included exercises for the major muscle groups, deltoids, leg muscles, and triceps, as well as back exercises. Initially, each exercise was performed 12 times, then, due to increased weight, the number was reduced to 6-8. The actor consumed 7,000 calories a day. As his trainer, Magnus Lygdbäck, said: “It was unbelievable. He would eat in one sitting what I eat in a whole day.” Skarsgård gained over 11 kilograms, and his body weight approached 102 kilograms. When it was time to work on definition, the number of calories consumed per day was drastically reduced, and the number of workouts was increased (they included exercises designed to burn fat). The actor's diet completely excluded sugar, vegetable protein, baked goods, dairy products, and alcohol – and remained that way until the start of filming.
- This is the second Tarzan film in the career of production designer Stuart Craig. He previously worked on "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" (Hugh Hudson, 1984).
- A film adaptation of the book by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- Negotiations for the role of Tarzan were held with multi-time Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps.
- Guillermo del Toro (2006), Stephen Sommers (2008), and Craig Brewer (2011) served as directors on the project in succession until David Yates was eventually chosen.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
