After revealing the first image of True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgard as Tarzan earlier this week, the debut trailer for The Legend of Tarzan arrived online shortly thereafter, offering audiences a sneak peek at the return of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ iconic jungle hero to the big screen.
Directed by David Yates, the filmmaker responsible for the final four installments of the Harry Potter franchise, The Legend of Tarzan follows the famous hero’s return to his primal roots after a diabolical villain lures him into a trap deep in the heart of the African jungle.
Along with Skarsgard in the title role, the film also features The Wolf of Wall Street actress Margot Robbie as Jane, Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator) as Chief Mbonga, Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained) as George Washington Williams, and Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) taking yet another villainous turn as Captain Leon Rom, the film’s primary antagonist.
The official synopsis for the film reads as follows:
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
The character Tarzan made his first appearance in Burroughs’ 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and went on to appear in more than 20 subsequent novels and a long list of television series, movies, radio serials, and other projects.
The Legend of Tarzan is scheduled to hit theaters July 1, 2016.
