To the manor born. Lost in the deepest African interiors. Schooled by the creatures of the jungle. Returned to the British society from whence he came. And now called back to Africa, to defend his childhood home against an onslaught of arrogant mercenaries intent on plundering the mystical city of Opar.
Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, is back.
Since they first brought him to the big screen in 1918, filmmakers have
continuously returned to the rich lore of Edgar Rice Burroughs' timeless tale
of the boy who grew to become Lord of the Apes. The fantasy, the action and
the exotic settings have inspired filmmakers for decades; now, in this latest
adventure, Tarzan returns to his jungle home to thrill legions of fans
worldwide.
Casper Van Dien, the hot young actor who starred in Paul Verhoeven's hit, "Starship Troopers," is Tarzan, who, on the eve of the wedding to his beautiful fiancée, Jane (Jane March), is confronted by a vision of the destruction of his childhood home. Torn between staying in England with Jane and returning at once to Africa, Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, returns to his adopted home, where he squares off against European soldiers of fortune, led by the Oxford-educated Nigel Ravens (Steven Waddington), bent on discovering and looting the legendary and mythic city of Opar.
"Tarzan and the Lost City" is a Dieter Geissler/Alta Vista Production, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures-Clipsal Film Partnership, directed by CARL SCHENKEL and produced by STANLEY CANTER, DIETER GEISSLER and MICHAEL LAKE. The screenplay is by BAYARD JOHNSON and J. ANDERSON BLACK and is based on the "Tarzan"reg. stories created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. GREG COOTE, PETER ZIEGLER, KURT SILBERSCHNEIDER and LAWRENCE MORTORFF executive produce. Warner Bros. distributes domestically and in Korea and France.
With the production of Warner Bros.' successful 1984 film, "Greystoke: The
Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," filmmaker Stanley Canter, who produced the
film with Hugh Hudson, had realized a long-held dream. The road to the
completion of the motion picture took 12 years for Canter to travel, and almost
as soon as the film had made it to the big screen, the producer immediately
began to envision a sequel. (Canter acquired the sequel rights in 1991 and
worked on the evolution of the story for the next six years.)
Since "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" had seen Tarzan's return to civilization and England, Canter's challenge was to conceive an idea that would see the now Lord Greystoke return to the jungles of Africa. Canter notes, "I structured the story on the action serials of the past, as I wanted to make a high adventure film with a really interesting love story. Even though the story takes place in 1913, our Tarzan is more forward-looking and he is matched with a thoroughly modern Jane, breaking with previous Janes. Ours is no wilting wallflower."
Canter presented the script (from Bayard Johnson and J. Anderson Black) to
German producer Dieter Geissler, who had formed his own production company in
1967 and had recently opened a state-of-the-art special effects house in
Germany. With Geissler's green light and Village Roadshow's participation,
"Tarzan and the Lost City" moved into active production.
Even before casting began, Canter had visited South Africa and had realized
with its cinematic locales and indigenous wildlife, it would make a perfect
location for the project. Producer Michael Lake traveled to the country to
begin pre-production in early 1997 and European director Carl Schenkel was
signed to helm the picture.
