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Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton Cast in Prince of Persia!

by Alex Billington
May 20, 2008
Source: Hollywood Reporter

It's now official - Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton will play Prince and Princess in the upcoming video game adaptation Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth 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. Obviously Arterton's agent is kicking ass, because she's gone from nearly nothing to a big name in both Quantum of Solace and now Prince of Persia! Jerry Bruckheimer is producing and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire's Mike Newell is directing this video game adaptation, with filming slated to begin in June in Morocco and England.

Its obvious that they've tweaked the storyline a bit, changing the names of both the Prince and Princess Farah, but considering Jordan Mechner, one of the game's original creators, has been intricately involved in the development of the script, I'm not at all worried. I've been looking forward to this adaptation since I first heard about it, and now it sounds like Gyllenhaal is going to go down in history as the actor that lead the way in finally showing Hollywood how great video game movies can actually be. Gemma Arterton is also a gorgeous addition, but I can't say much for her acting yet. However, I am intrigued by the choice to use more Americanized actors as opposed to more ethnic alternatives. Thoughts?

You can read a great update on the status from Jerry Bruckheimer back in early December, who also shares his story of how he was first introduced to the video game and how they plan to be the first to break the bad video game movie mold. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is currently set to arrive in theaters next summer on June 19th, 2009. We'll be sure to bring you more updates as we hear them!

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http://skmovies.blogspot.com/ Sean Kelly

There is no way I see Donnie Darko as an Persian prince.
Ian Kazimer

At first I was a bit turned off, but considering the Prince in-game doesn't really look Persian himself, I'm not too worried. At least Gyllenhaal's a credible actor.
Hector Navarro

I think Jake Gyllenhaal will give the movie credibility, you need a good actor to provide the character with enough depth and personality to carry a movie of this magnitude, more than just hit the spot with the physical appearance. I think it's great that they're adapting the movie not to follow the game step by step, but instead expanding the story to something (I hope) much more interesting that fighting monsters in a castle.Jerry Bruckheimer will make sure to make this a big franchise much in the like of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Darrin

bad choice for prince. the son who got his head chopped off in 300 should play prince. that guy definitley looked like prince
Jojo

Fuck this movie. I would love this to be smash hit just so that halo and gears of war is greenlit but the casting for this movie sucks. A middle eastern or indian actor like Hrithik should have played this role. FUCK YOU HOLLYWOOD.
Nettle

I don't get how they're going to pass of off a white guy as the Prince of PERSIA. I'm not saying Gyllenhaal is a bad actor, in fact I like him, but... just try picturing this in your head: You're in an ancient middle Eastern palace with rich colors and Persian attendants and royals and outside is nothing but desert... and then a white guy walks in as the prince. Maybe it's just me, but that's going to throw off the mood of the entire movie.
Garrett.king

My main concern is a good actor..why Jake?
SP

Jake Gyllenhaal is going to undergo a controversial procedure to make his skin look darker just for this movie.
E

So ok .... a WHITE GUY playing a persian ... and Elektra was also WHITE ... so ... ok are you telling me there are no ethnic actors ... ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD that could play roles CLEARLY WRITTEN for an ethnic actor? It's the Prince Of Persia ... its not like the Prince Of Maybe Persia ... or Prince Of Possibly Somewhere Near Persia But Closer To LA ... ITS PRINCE OF ACTUAL PERSIA ... What is Mechner doing ... Why would be ... befoul HIS OWN WORK? I am a HUGE fan of the POP series. I've played all of them and thought Sands Of Time was one of the most flawless games and great stories I'd come across since the original System Shock ... I don't understand Hollywood at all. Actually, scratch that, I understand Hollywood is filled with racist idiots but how can you be racist when you WROTE THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL in the first place.
http://blog.myspace.com/shero_rauf shero

As they said about Heath Ledger that how can he be a Joker !!!! no it is the time of Jake Gyllenhaal How can he become the Prince of Persia !!!!!???? Why not ....and what is that mean he is white ? and is that a big problem and do you think all the people in Persia are black ???? and there is no white in them ??? and do I mention that there is a make up !!!? and did I mention that Hollywood is out for it's mind from a long time ago .... ???!!! but some times even the crazy can do good stuff !!!! Can you just be more open to some of the actors who really get into a new characters !!!? and just believe that maybe they can do good ... and do not be so surprised ...as this is the first time Hollywood do stuff like that .... and still nothing is sure about if he will take that character or not ...they are in the first step .... Who knows what will happen ...
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

Where did Gyllenhaal come into this?!?!?! newell is a good director, I think this will be a decent film.
E

Liz Taylor may have been an great Cleopatra but that was a LONG TIME AGO ...
SmartGuy

There's really not much to say about this besides, very bad choice.
SmartGuy

There's really not much to say about this besides: very bad choice.
yh

I think this movie would have much more credibility had they hired, you know... middle eastern actors/actresses as leads in a movie that is 1) set in Persia and 2) has leads who are supposed to be locals. Its nearly as bad as hiring the white guy to play play a chinese kung fu master. If the script is good, they can find an actor to play it. If the script sucks, no amount of big acting names will save it.
therblig

I think Ben stiller got it right in trpoic thunder when they made robert the black guy. Thats the way to do it. HAHA This on the other hand is like watching the ten commandments all over again, I mean damn, they made hidalgo and yeah they stuck to the script. Why cant these people do the same, They should of just hired danny devito to play the prince of persia and ruled out any question if he would work out. Up above (shero) comparing the joker to the prince of persia was way off... The joker paints his face so he could have been anyone, anycolor, any shape. But for this can you see jake faking a persian accent, Dude had hard enough time in Bubble boy let alone being able to fake a mexican accent calling everyone Vato in that movie. HAHAHA I love donnie darko and a few others Jake has done, I just cant see this working out.
skyhawk0221

But hey, a white guy pulled off middle eastern scenes in , 'the passion of the christ'.
skyhawk0221

besides give gylllenhaal a tan, longer hair, and an accent and hes set.
Nick

Okay, they chose the right actor for Ben Hur, didn't they? They didn't have a white dude play a Jew. They also chose the right actors for the latest Indiana Jones movie who looked and sounded Russians. So why can't they make the right choice for this movie as well? Dno't tell me it's Hollywood. That's the lamest excuse! That's like painting a white man in black to play an African American. We are NOT in 1920s! This is in fact 2008. People are a lot smarter and make up is too easy to ingore, no matter how perfectly well done. Jake will get a tan, will die his hair, and perhaps will even get a bigger nose glued on, but he will also have to get somehow thinner and taller for this movie. I think he's too fat, too short, too old, too white and too nerdy. Prince of Persia is filled of fire energy, moves like a snake and strikes like a scorpion, which a white guy in make up just wouldn't pull off.
drd

Hollywood sucks. This would have been a great opportunity to grow out of the image it is nothing but a small town high school for rich white Jewish kids to play the lead in every production. When you compare the industry, it is peanuts compared to the worldwide movie industry, namely Bollywood. This is a different world now and I, for one, do not plan on giving any more of my money to Hollywood crap like this. Fuck you Hollywood, and in the wise words of Public Enemy, "burn, hollywood, burn"!
http://yahoo.com Anonomus

Yes I'm sure by now that we all agree that these two jackasses and fucking DISNEY SUCK ASS. Which is why the only 2 solutions that I can think of is to A. NOT WAIST OUR MONEY AND SEE IT or B. TYPE UP A PATITION FOR PEOPLE TO SIGN STATING WHAT WE WANT SO WE CAN THOUROLY ENJOY THIS MOVIE But I'm to lazy to do number 2 and I also don't know how.
eddie

fuck that its fucking a disney movie this movie should be rated R he comes up behind guys and cuts their throats wat the hell they better make it good and not like any other disney action movie like pirates it was ok but not good enough to be called a real action movie
http://yahoo.com IcyOne

I'm sorry to tell you eddie but it wont be RATED R because it's owned by DISNEY and they also want to use Jake Gyllenhaal in ALL THREE PRINCE of PERSIA movies. So I don't know about the rest'a ya'll but ANONOMUS' plan A. sounds pretty damn good!!!!??
http://yahoo.com Anonomus

Now where the casters for this movie at when SPIDER-MAN was being made. This simpelly seems to be a wrong place wrong time predicaments.
Stan 'The Viewers Choice' Morrow

I like the guy who got his head cut off in 300, he look just like the guy from the game....
http://yahoo.com IcyAnonomus

Exactlly Because he's had the right training already and he looked increadable in those fight sceans. Now we just need to convince the casters about it?!?!
Coco

This really makes me upset... Though Jennifer Garner played a good Elektra even though she was white... I don't know, this seems a little extreme... I mean if your going to make a white actor tan and buff and bullshit why not just higher a GOOD actor whose already ETHNIC or at least naturally looks the part like Orlando Bloom? I wouldn't be so upset if they casted him because at leasts it's more believeable then some white guy with bronzed skin... UGH. And did you see pics of Jake? He looks ridiculous...
Madlizzy

I dont know why everyone is getting so worked up about this. If you saw Jarhead you saw that Jake is a GREAT actor, you can also EASILY see (from his other works) that he can be VERY physical, which everyone knows this role will have to be in order to keep up with the game. AND AS FOR THE COMMENTS ABOUT THE ACCENT if any of you actually played any of the games from the Prince of Persia series you should know that they used a brittish accent for both the prince and the princess. It's not as though they cast Ben Afflek or Matt Damon or something, Jake is a really good actor and is physically capable of demanding roles such as this one. ALSO, there have been plenty of movies which I thought were going to be AWEFUL either due to casting or concept and if I have ever learned ANYTHING from that, it is that we should wait and see before we say ridiculous things because in the end we could all be eating crow.
Ameer

Fuck Jake Gylenhaal and whoever that girl is...The parts should have been given to eastern actresses end of...
Ginny

Hmm, it is interesting that people seem to think that the movie requires someone to 'look ethnic' to make the movie a success. I dont agree. I think Jake will do a great job. I think the issue here isn't that Jake wont do a good job, or that the makeup department wont be able to pull it off, the issue is the fact that Hollywood didnt bother to find new talent from Persia, to play this role. In this instance, I think Jake looks HOT, but that doesnt really help the struggling undiscovered talent in Persia now does it?
Notgai

LOL jake sucks, but he's okay i guess. im more worried about the princess, shes a fucking white slut.
will

what the hell is a white guy doing trying to play a persian, at least get the rock or something... racist hollywood bastards there's someone out there who could play this role. and by the way jake looks ridiculous in this movie.
Akiva

Jake gylenhaal is a jew and in case you people don't realize it... Jews are middle eastern origin too... I haven't seen the movie but insisting some black guy plays the part is just retarded. Too many movies get remade changing the parts to other races... Jew / Persian not incredibly different origins...
aword

I think the point is being made. a Jew shouldn't be playing a Arab part. You can alway tell a Persian person and they consider themselves white even though we in America don't. Both have unique noses the Persian have very dark eyes and hair where as Jews usually have light eyes. Number one surgery in Iran...nose jobs so they can look more western. So they strive to look like the white. I have to agree there is a preference to cast Jew in leading roles in Hollywood. I don't think a movie can be made with out a Jew involved in it. Certainly have a hard time getting it distributed. They owned pretty much all major networks and the distribution of most America movies. So pretty hard to make a flick and get it out there.. Mel Gibson did and look what happen to him.
med1

The ancient Persians were part of an Indo-European group in Southern Russia that eventually migrated south. It was not uncommon for them to have red hair/blonde hair and blue eyes. In addition, the middle east has been genetically mixed for millenia. Since eye color, hair color, and skin color do not directly follow the Mendelian dominant/recessive traits it is still more than possible that children (even with dark-skinned, dark-eyed parents) can be light-skinned with blond hair and blue eyes. For evidence look up Cyrus the Great, the Emperor who created the world power, Persia. He was said to be light-skinned and lighter-haired