King of the Jungle is a 2000 drama film starring John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, Julie Carmen, Cliff Gorman, Michael Rapaport, Marisa Tomei, and Rosario Dawson. It was written and directed by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld.
Actor Gordon Standing was mauled by a lion on-set and died the following day, May 21, 1927, at Los Angeles General Hospital. Friend and co-star Elmo Lincoln (the big screen's first Tarzan) took this as his cue to retire from show business. When he returned to the screen in 1939, Lincoln was relegated to bits and extra roles, never regaining the stature of his silent film days.
In the spirit of "Of Mice and Men," John Leguizamo stars in his most dramatic role to date as Seymour, a mentally challenged young man living in New York. Seymour's happy New York Knicks fan existence comes to a tragic end after he witnesses the assassination of his mother, a renowned civil rights activist. Things go from bad to worse when Seymour locates a firearm in the home of his best friend, Francis (Michael Rapaport). Determined, desperate and deranged, Seymour goes on one man's journey to find his mother's killers and bring them to justice. Featuring an award-winning ensemble, acclaimed screenwriter and playwright Seth Zvi Rosenfeld's heartfelt drama includes John Leguizamo (Emmy Award winner, "Freak"; Golden Globe nominee, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything), Rosie Perez (Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee; Boston Society of Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics and Los Angeles Film Critics winner, Fearless), Annabella Sciorra ("The Sopranos," Copland, What Dreams May Come) and Marisa Tomei (Academy Award winner, Best Supporting Actress, My Cousin Vinny). Written by Anonymous
Buster Crabbe narrowly lost the role of Tarzan to Johnny Weissmuller, so he starred in this Tarzan "copycat" film.
