David Yates’ beastly needs

David Yates can’t resist making a movie about beasts.
The British director is returning to the big screen after five years with two releases in 2016 – The Legend of Tarzan followed by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Having helmed the last four Harry Potter films, with the final Deathly Hallows instalment released in 2011, David is thrilled to be back in the magical world surrounding Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
“I seem to be drawn into movies with beasts of one sort or another,” he laughed to Entertainment Weekly. “Potter, for me, it was such a delicious universe to be in because it had humour and drama and magic and extraordinary animals and creatures, so it was a really rich universe to play in. And it was really hard to find something that was as much fun, frankly, as that.”
Looking at both his upcoming features, one may comment on how different they are from each other. While The Legend of Tarzan brings to life the classic tale of the jungle man, played by Alexander Skarsgard, Fantastic Beasts, penned by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, is about writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his attempts to capture magical creatures.
Despite appearing the complete opposite, David insists there are similarities between both tales.
“What’s fascinating about Fantastic Beasts is that it’s really about this creature within, and both Tarzan and Fantastic Beasts have this theme, really,” he noted. “Tarzan’s trying to control and deal with this primal ferocity that he has within him and balance his civilized self with the wildness that exists. And ultimately in Fantastic Beasts, there’s a character (who) we discover has something within them also. They have a sense of wildness about them.”
The Legend of Tarzan hits cinema screens this summer (16), while Fantastic Beasts arrives in November (16).