The Twilight Saga star Kellan Lutz, who played Emmett Cullen in the mega-hit movie franchise, has been cast to play Tarzan in an upcoming adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs jungle-dwelling character for Constantin Films.

Lutz will be joined by Spencer Locke, the actress that played K-Mart in Constantin’s Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil: Afterlife, who will take on the role of Jane Porter.

Instead of going live-action, the movie will instead take the computer animated performance capture route, and will also be in 3D…naturally.

Lord of the Jungle #3
Written by Arvid Nelson
Illustrated by Roberto Castro
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Colors by Alex Guimaraes
Covers by Paul Reaud, Lucio Parrillo, and Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 11, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

If you like the character of Tarzan, you’re going to love Lord of the Jungle #3. Simply put, it’s a fantastic Tarzan story. Dynamite Entertainment is really turning their books up a notch creatively. Line wide, they are dismissed by many as just a licensed comic publisher, but honestly, if you take the time to READ their books, you’re going to find that a big percentage of them are well thought out, well-crafted comics.

In this issue, writer Arvid Nelson continues telling a great story that he started two issues ago. Yes, it’s origin-like, but not completely an origin, if that makes any sense. It will when you read the book.

John Carter
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Written by Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon
Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, and Dominic West
Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: March 9, 2012

The Story

Captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), a former Confederate officer who returned from fighting in the Civil War to find his wife and child murdered by Apaches, is now scouring the deserts and hills of Arizona looking for a mysterious cave of gold. When a group of Calvary soldiers attempt to conscript him into their fight against the Apaches in that territory, Carter escapes their clutches and soon manages to find the cave he has been looking for, but a strange and bald being is already there waiting for him. After a brief fight Carter emerges the victor, but his adversary activates a device and speaks the word “Barsoom” before perishing from his wounds. The reluctant soldier is suddenly transported from Earth to a place unfamiliar to him. In his new surroundings, a planet called Barsoom (better known to us as Mars), Carter can leap great distances and has increased strength, but he soon discovers he’s not alone.

Disney’s John Carter opens in theaters everywhere today. The studio’s attempts to rectify their shockingly lackluster marketing campaign in recent months has been bold and commendable. Hopefully their efforts will not be in vain. A minute-long action scene from the film has been released and you can watch it here below.

I like it. Hell I like virtually everything I see and/or hear from this movie. There’s a strong sense of fun and adventure one cannot help but feel from watching this recent trailers and clips. Matched with the impressive visuals and Michael Giacchino‘s grandiose music score, John Carter looks to be one of the few genuine movies released this year that go beyond their massive hype.

Walt Disney Pictures really, really wants you to see John Carter, the movie they’ve been marketing rather poorly up until recently. In fact, the studio is so desperate to gets butts in seats for this big flick that they’re making a 10-minute clip from the movie’s opening available online absolutely FREE!

You can watch the video here below.

All I can say after watching this clip is, “Hot damn.” There is infinitely more humor, adventure, and tension in this clip than in the entirety of recent sci-fi tentpole releases like Cowboys & Aliens and Tron: Legacy.