Harry Potter director David Yates has signed on to helm the Warner Bros. adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan.

Vulture reports that although he only boarded the live-action project on Monday, he's said to be meeting with such rising stars as Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, Sons of Anarchy) and Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood). The website contends the studio is also interested in Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises).

The film has been in development since at least 2003 under Ocean's Eleven producer Jerry Weintraub, with Craig Brewer (Blacksnake Moan, Hustle & Flow) attached to write and direct as recently as June 2011.

Although Disney has had much success with Tarzan in animated form -- beginning with a 1999 movie and continuing with direct-to-DVD sequels and a television series -- the Lord of the Jungle has fared so well as live-action in recent decades. Tarzan and the Lost City (1998) was a box-office flop, and The WB's 2003 television series Tarzan was canceled after just eight episodes.