The Swedish-born actor has risen to the top of the contender list to star in David Yates' Tarzan for Warner Bros., Variety said. The film still is awaiting the official go-ahead from studio brass, but a late summer shoot is expected.
Come summer, Skarsgård may don the character of John Clayton III, aka Tarzan. The story follows the "re-assimilated" Clayton who is asked by H.M. Queen Victoria to team with mercenary George Washington Williams to save the Congo from a warlord who controls a rich diamond mine.
Samuel L. Jackson is a possibility to play Williams who is a Civil War vet who wants to repair his name following his involvement in a massacre of Native Americans.
Yates officially committed to the project last week, which, given all the colonial subtext, risks running afoul a sensitivity issue or two. Yates directed the last four installments of the Harry Potter franchise.
Toronto premieres Disconnect and What Maisie Knew will be Skarsgård's next starrers.
[Source: Variety]