Summary

• Despite his previous successes, David Yates' collaboration with Margot Robbie in The Legend of Tarzan marked his first box office bomb.
• The film, with its impressive cast and Tarzan's history, failed to live up to expectations both commercially and critically.
• However, Yates quickly redeemed himself with the success of the first Fantastic Beasts film, which overshadowed Tarzan's shortcomings.

Despite a string of successes with the Harry Potter movies, David Yates' streak was surprisingly brought to an end by his 2016 collaboration with superstar Margot Robbie, Tarzan is a franchise with an impressive legacy both on and off the big screen. However, despite Yates' prior record, the movie's impressive cast, and Tarzan's history, the 2016 installment proved both a critical and commercial disappointment.

Before Tarzan, David Yates had established himself as one of the most successful franchise directors of all time, having helmed the final four films in the Harry Potter saga. Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 were all financial hits, generating over $4 billion at the global box office. Despite differing from the beloved source material in several key areas, the final Harry Potter films were also acclaimed by audiences and critics, with each of them scoring over 75% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, Yates could not follow up this performance with his first post-Potter movie.

The Legend Of Tarzan Was David Yates' First Box Office Bomb After Directing The Harry Potter Movies

Despite making nearly $360 million during its theatrical run, The Legend of Tarzan is still considered Yates' first box office bomb. The film cost a total of $180 million to make, excluding associated promotional and marketing costs. Based on the generally accepted metric that a movie needs to make two-and-a-half times its budget in order to be considered profitable, The Legend of Tarzan did not live up to expectations.

Not only did the film fail to make a major impact at the box office, but it also received a lukewarm critical response. While reactions were by no means disastrous, the movie only scored 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Considering the pedigree of its personnel, including Margot Robbie, Alexander Skarsgård, Christoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson, the response was certainly a disappointment.

David Yates' First Fantastic Beasts Movie Quickly Redeemed His Tarzan Box Office Bomb

Following such a successful streak with a flop could have derailed David Yates' directorial career. However, it only took him four months to dismiss any suggestion that his career was on a downward trajectory with the first installment of the Fantastic Beasts prequel trilogy. Released in November 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them was both a major critical and commercial success, recording an aggregate Rotten Tomatoes score of 74% and making $814 million at the box office. This quickly papered over Tarzan's shortcomings.

However, although the first Fantastic Beasts film was a definite return to form, the rest of the series – and Yates' career as a whole – has stalled somewhat with subsequent entries. Both The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore saw diminishing returns, making $654 million and $402 million, respectively. With both films also rated as "rotten", it may yet be the case that The Legend of Tarzan is seen as a turning point in David Yates' directorial career.