Sommers may head new 'Tarzan' movie

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Hollywood filmmaker Stephen Sommers reportedly is in talks to co-write and direct "Tarzan," a new version of the classic adventure tale.

Sommers is best known for directing the special effects-laden flicks "The Mummy," "The Mummy Returns" and "Van Helsing." He recently finished working on "G.I. Joe."

Variety.com said Sommers is in negotiations to direct "Tarzan" from a screenplay he is to write with Stuart Beattie.

Beattie, who penned the final draft of the script for "G.I. Joe," also worked on "Collateral," the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy and the upcoming epic "Australia," the entertainment industry trade newspaper noted.

The Tarzan, the ape-man character has appeared in numerous incarnations since his debut in Edgar Rice Burroughs's 1912 novel "Tarzan of the Apes" and its numerous sequels.

After Johnny Weismuller played him in a series of movies in the 1930s, the character was also seen in the 1984 film "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes," in the 1998 movie "Tarzan and the Lost City," in the 1999 animated feature "Tarzan," in the 2003 TV series "Tarzan" and in the 2006 Broadway musical "Tarzan."