USA:STARS ATTEND THE HOLLYWOOD PREMIERE OF "TARZAN AND THE LOST CITY"

Record ID: 387576

  • Title: USA:STARS ATTEND THE HOLLYWOOD PREMIERE OF "TARZAN AND THE LOST CITY"
  • Date: 13th April 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 22, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) CASPER VAN DIEN RIDES IN ON ELEPHANT TELEVISION CREWS FILM VAN DIEN'S ENTRANCE CASPER VAN DIEN FAKES A JUNGLE CALL PHOTOGRAPHERS CASPER VAN DIEN GETS OFF THE ELEPHANT WIDE OF VAN DIEN WITH MEDIA (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) CASPER VAN DIEN SAYING, "I DON'T KNOW, SN
  • Embargoed: 28th April 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA6M2IJEE6HCPOIQOG5UQBL9LYE
  • Story Text: Fresh from his starring role in Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi thriller "Starship Troopers", Casper Van Dien dons the loincloth and tries his hand at jungle calls in the latest Tarzan film, "Tarzan and the Lost City".

    Van Dien made a grand entrance on an elephant when he attended a vine-swinging and jungle-calling contest for Los Angeles area children besides Warner Brothers on Wednesday (April 22).

    The film tells the continuing story of Tarzan, who, on the eve of his wedding to Jane, played by Jane March, is confronted by a vision of the destruction of his childhood home.

    Torn between staying in England with Jane and returning to Africa, Tarzan decides to go back to his adopted home.

    Once there, he squares off against European soldiers of fortune bent on discovering and looting the legendary and mythic city of Opar.

    It was 1918 when filmmakers first brought to the big screen Edgar Rice Burroughs' timeless tale of a boy who grows to become Lord of the Apes.

    More than 20 Tarzan films have been made over the years featuring actors such as Johnny Weissmuller and Gordon Scott.

    While those actors were physically imposing and stood well over six feet tall, Van Dien is shorter at five foot ten inches and much leaner.He worked hard to ensure a muscular physique for the film, getting up at 2.30 am every morning to do a two hour workout before showing up on the film's set at 5.00 am.

    The filmmakers chose South Africa as the location for their movie and built 17 separate sets to tell the story.

    Specially designed body paint and makeup worn by the film's warriors and their mystical leader were drawn from the elaborate body art of the Nuba tribesmen of South Africa.The labour-intensive make-up process sometimes stretched into hours, particularly on the days where more the 200 extras were seen on camera.

    While filming, Van Dien had some real-life adventures on set.He was charged by an elephant, squeezed by a python and bitten by an overly-amorous monkey.

    But it was all in a day's work for the latest "king of the apes".

    "Tarzan and the Lost City" is now playing throughout the United States.It is yet to be given a release date in Europe.
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