Like a hardy perennial, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ animal-befriending, vine-swinging, valley-yodelling hero Tarzan just keeps getting re-invented every few years. And now Resident Evil producers Constantin Film think that Twilight’s Kellan Lutz is the top choice to don the loincloth.

Actually, Lutz will be spending his time in a performance capture leotard, as the movie, set to be directed by Reinhard Klooss, is going to be CG animated from the cast’s work.

And every Tarzan needs his Jane, which explains why actress Spencer Locke (who has cropped up in two Resident Evil movies as K-Mart and will next be seen in Detention) is in talks to play the woman who wins his heart.

Klooss (whose name makes him sound like the villain on a kids’ spy show), has been working on this one for a couple of years now. He's written the script with Jessica Postigo and Yoni Brenner, and is pushing ahead with full-speed development. The aim is to get this take on Tarzan out ahead of the various other projects still bubbling away around Hollywood. If Klooss pulls it off, Warners in particular – which has spent the last decade or so trying to put something on screen – will not be pleased at being gazumped.

Lutz, who was last seen in Immortals, will be back for the final Twilight entry, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 later this year.