'Tarzan' May Swing Again

Zap2It.com | December 15, 2006

Guillermo Del Toro

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Del Toro is in talks to direct

He's been an animated hit, a television flop and a Broadway swinger, but could Tarzan be catching a vine back to the big screen?

Producer Jerry Weintraub and Warner Bros. are hoping to start a new franchise based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs creation.

According to Variety, the producer has enlisted John Collee ("Happy Feet") to script the film and, on a somewhat intriguing note, Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") is in talks to direct.

One of the most enduring and oft-reimagined characters in popular fiction, Tarzan first appeared in Burroughs' 1912 novel "Tarzan of the Apes." John Clayton, Lord of Greystoke, was raised by apes in the African wilderness and continued his adventures in 23 additional books and countless movie and television permutations starring actors from Johnny Weissmuller to Christopher Lambert to Travis Fimmel.

Del Toro is currently working toward "Hellboy 2." "Pan's Labyrinth," nominated earlier this week for a Golden Globe, opens on Dec. 29.