The Legend of Tarzan (July 1)
I think this film is set to run into a buzz-saw of backlash unless it’s somehow inescapably good (gonna be honest, unlikely). Tarzan is an antiquated character by many standards. It’s off to a bad start, with rumors of director David Yates essentially having to abandon it in a time crunch to get the Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ready for a November release. It’s also been preemptively compared to Pan, last fall’s extravagant Peter Pan origin story that bombed critically and commercially. In the plus column, Yates is a talented director, the cast’s pedigree is high and Samuel L. Jackson spoke positively to Collider about the film, its politics and its blockbuster credibility. Then again, Jackson isn’t the most discerning actor ever and it faces the same skepticism that Warcraft faces; will mass audiences flock to it? Charitably, this film’s an underdog.
