Perhaps another reason it’s baffling that “The Legend of Tarzan” missed the mark at the box office stems from the pedigree of the film’s director, David Yates. Before “The Legend of Tarzan,” Yates directed the last four films in the “Harry Potter” big-screen saga, which concluded in 2010 and 2011 with the two-part “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” movies. While his 2016 action-adventure movie didn’t bring in the audiences the filmmaker hoped for, he considered himself lucky to work with Robbie just before her career shot into the stratosphere. On top of that, the director loves the choices the “Barbie” star has made on her way to the top.
“Margot was always amazingly thoughtful, bright, and insightful, and it doesn’t surprise me,” Yates told Looper in an exclusive interview. “What is particularly marvelous about what Margot’s doing is she’s empowering and finding stories [that] she supports, and she gets made, which need to be heard. When you get to a certain point as a star, you have a lot of influence, and you have a lot of power.”
The way Robbie is using her clout is especially important, Yates added because now she has the wherewithal to get movies made that might not see the light of day otherwise. “She’s always had that amazing star power, and she was always completely watchable on screen,” Yates told Looper. “I admire the fact that she’s leveraging that success now to make other stories happen with other filmmakers and other directors. It’s wonderful.”
