Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

1/26/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Jerry Bruckheimer, who produces the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, said the star, a much-pumped-up Jake Gyllenhaal, will be unrecognizable in the title role. Asked for his producer's opinion of the film's dailies and cut footage, Bruckheimer went straight to his star's appearance.  "Yeah, you won't recognize Jake Gyllenhaal," Bruckheimer said. "I've seen most of Prince of Persia. It looks fantastic."  The producer added that Gyllenhaal got his swashbuckler muscles the old-fashioned way. "No, no drugs," he countered to jibes against Gyllenhaal's sudden bulk. "No drugs. He just worked really hard."  Bruckheimer credited Gyllenhaal with a solid athletic foundation that was easy for his Hollywood trainers to manipulate in different directions. "Well, he's a cyclist anyway, and he bikes all the time," the producer said. "We just had to have him do a little lifting, but he looks fantastic."  The movie is based on the hit Ubisoft video game.  Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is due in theaters May 28, 2010.

8/1/08 - Walt Disney Pictures has moved the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time back nearly a year to May 28, 2010, from its original June 19, 2009, release date.

7/21/08 - Jerry Bruckheimer, who is producing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, said that the film takes inspiration from the entire series of Persia video games.  There have been six Prince of Persia games, starting with a 2-D side-scroller in 1999 and progressing to 3-D adventures with extended mythologies.  The original game, created by Broderbund, was a simple story of an orphan making his way through castle corridors to save a princess from the evil Vizier. The game sequel expanded the two-dimensional action to outdoor settings.  Next-generation games, produced by Ubisoft, began with the Sands of Time game and introduced supernatural artifacts, such as the Dagger of Time and the Hourglass of Time, as well as time-traveling entities and a Sand Monster alter ego. The trademark feature of all the games is the playable character's jumping across a gap and grabbing a ledge with his hands to pull himself up. Will fans see that signature move in the movie? "Well, we'll try," Bruckheimer said.  Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is currently scheduled for a June 16, 2009 release.

06/06/08 - Ben Kingsley will play the villain in Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's big-screen adaptation of the Ubisoft video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.  In the fantasy action movie, Kingsley portrays Nizam, who plots to kill his brother, King Shahrman, and blame it on Prince Dastan so he can take the throne.  Jake Gyllenhaal plays the prince, while Gemma Arterton and Alfred Molina round out the leads.  The movie will release in 2009.

06/04/08 - Alfred Molina will join Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley in Disney's Prince of Persia, the Mike Newell-directed adaptation of the Ubisoft fantasy video-game franchise. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing.  Molina will play Sheik Amar, who becomes a mentor to the prince.

05/21/08 - Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton will star in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' adaptation of Ubisoft's popular video game.  Mike Newell is directing.  In the fantasy adventure, Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in 6th-century Persia, who must join forces with Tamina (Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.  Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard, Jordan Mechner and Boaz Yakin wrote the script, which is based on the games created by Jordan Mechner.

12/31/06 - Disney set a release date for this film sometime in 2009 based on the hit video game.  Jerry Bruckheimer produced.  Set in medieval Persia, the story centers on an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world.

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