Tarzan in the Dolomites? Imagine our surprise when we learned that the latest Tarzan film – The Legend of Tarzan (2016) – included the Dolomite Mountains’ landscape… Isn’t Tarzan supposed to be set in Great Britain and Africa!? Well, yes…
While the Tarzan story takes place England and Gabon, a large scale shoot in Africa was never really an option for the 2016 remake. The combination of the lack of regional infrastructure available in Gabon for a feature-length movie, and a limited budget, made “getting creative” essential to the production. Many scenes were filmed on soundstages, while molds were made for sets and filming extended to other parts of Europe. Large impressions of a former slate quarry in northern Wales, the Dinorwig Quarry, were used to create large molds that served as the rock formations surrounding an African village in Gabon. And the crew used photos of the Dolomites’ Sassopiatto / Plattkofel (2,958m / 9,704′) massif in Northern Italy as the mountainous backdrop of the village. See if you can spot the scene, and find this majestic mountain in this film!
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Featuring Alexander Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, and Margot Robbie
Check out some of our favorite hiking trips around Sassopiatto / Plattkofel!
- The Great Dolomites Ladin Valleys Traverse
- Trek of the Legends: Hiking in Val di Fassa
- Three Dolomite Valleys Hiking Traverse
