His stuntman had to undergo an emergency appendectomy when filming started. He injured his knee in 1980 meaning he was reliant on his stuntman. Shootingįilming took place in Sri Lanka in February 1981. Goddard, who became better known for his work in theme parks, said he wrote the script in two weeks. In a 2012 interview with the film history magazine Filmfax, co-writer Gary Goddard revealed that he had originally been commissioned to write a screenplay for Bo Derek based upon the Marvel Comics superheroine, Dazzler a 30-page treatment was completed before the project was cancelled and work instead proceeded on Tarzan, The Ape Man which initially carried the working title Me, Jane reflecting its focus on Jane Porter as a showcase for Derek. MGM argued the Derek film would be the second remake of their 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man which they had the right to do, having released the first remake in 1959. complained, as that studio was also developing a Tarzan film with Robert Towne called Greystoke and they had the rights to the character from the Burroughs estate. In February 1980, MGM announced the studio was making a Tarzan film with the Dereks. After making A Change of Seasons, she was meant to appear in High Road to China but pulled out of the film saying she wanted to be directed only by her husband John.