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Tarzan is headed for Hollywood
12:00 (GMT+2), Thu, 17 May 2012

The short home-made Tarzan movie featuring DeWet du Toit as Tarzan on YouTube continues to attract attention. Mark D Khoury.

GEORGE NEWS - Georgian, De Wet du Toit's dream to travel to Hollywood and audition for the next Warner Brothers Tarzan film may just have been realised.

A Johannesburg based film director Dominik von Eisenhart-Rothe of Katjusha Films offered to obtain a visa on his behalf, and to pay towards the cost of flying him to Hollywood to meet the producer Craig Bruwer.

Eisenhart-Rothe declared his interest in making a documentary on the 100th anniversary of the legendary Tarzan, in which De Wet's quest to be Tarzan in the next Hollywood movie will feature.

"De Wet will be our story line." His interest was tickled after viewing DeWet starring as Tarzan in his own short movie on YouTube. Von Eisenhart-Rothe confirmed that his company would be filming the young Tarzan whilst making his second Tarzan movie in George.

"We would follow him to California, hopefully coming face-to-face with Bruwer or a casting agent, and film the audition. Everything now depends on him obtaining a visa."

Although his first effort attracted a lot of attention, De Wet decided to make an entirely new Tarzan movie, which is almost in the can, but for a final shoot in Durban and filming parts involving Jane. The excited film maker/aspirant actor said this week "It is all just unbelievable how much publicity I have received from the YouTube movie."

The organisers of the Dum-Dum Tarzan Festival, Jim Sullos chairman of the Tarzan Foundation, and co-founder Al Bohl spotted it and invited him to participate in the festival which celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the popular character.
"They are taking care of a working permit and it looks promising, I am in daily contact with them. So while I'm in California for the festival, it has been arranged that I can make my way to Warner Brothers."

In the meantime the 24-year-old, who has been jocularly referred to as the "Tarzan van die Tuinroete", has not been sitting idle. Apart from searching for an ideal "Jane" to star in his second Tarzan movie, and tweaking the script, which has a romantic story line, he and his twin brother Rudolph have been in Cape Town taking part in an English commercial. The twins even featured in some ads while there. "No, I am too busy making my dreams come true to be seeking a leading lady in my own life. I am looking for an actress that can take the part in my movie, as we are hoping to finish it soon," said De Wet laughingly. He has become accustomed to being asked to do the Tarzan holler.

"I am working hard at studying acting techniques but you must remember Tarzan was never a man of many words. I have concentrated in making my second movie more believable. It has a more romantic storyline, and will entail elephant rides and entanglements with snakes."

*Katjusha-Films is one of the oldest European owned film and television production companies in Africa with regular features on international television networks, such as German and French TV, the Discovery Channel and Al Jazeera English.

ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST