In a contract with the estate of the original book’s author Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sony Pictures has accuired the film rights of “Tarzan.”
The project, which would be a complete reworking of the well-known character Burroughs initially created in 1912 and continued to write Tarzan novels into the 1940s, is not said to have a writer, director, or producer attached to it, according to Deadline.
Tarzan, who was the son of English aristocracy, was left there and later perished. Then, in the African wilderness, Tarzan was raised by apes. He had no prior exposure to Western culture before rising to the position of “King of the Apes.”
Tarzan of the Apes, the first movie adaptation, appeared in 1918, making it nearly as old as Hollywood itself. Since then, the series has had successful runs on both the big and small screens, starring performers such as Ron Ely and Olympic athlete Jonny Weissmuller. In addition to a Disney animated picture from 1999 and a well-liked Filmation animated series from the 1970s, it has also inspired countless Broadway and radio adaptations.
The Hollywood Reporter claims that the Tarzan IP’s existence in both the public and private realms makes the rights arrangement even more intriguing.
While it is undeniable that the earlier stories are in the public domain, Burroughs continued to write adventures far into the 1940s, and several of these stories were published years after his passing in 1950.
The estate is the legal owner of Tarzan’s trademark. The most recent big-screen adaptation, The Legend of Tarzan from Warners, which debuted in 2016, starred Alexander Skarsgard. With around $350 million in worldwide income, it expanded its scope to cover the imperialist aspects of the original IP.
(source : ANI)
