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FIRST LOOK

First Look: Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

by Alex Billington
July 17, 2009
Source: EW.com

I know what you're thinking: haven't we already seen photos of a shirtless and buff Donnie Darko as the Prince of Persia? Yes, yes we have, but this is the first official photo of Jake Gyllenhaal, as published in Entertainment Weekly. Unfortunately, that photo seen above is about as big as it gets. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time won't be appearing at Comic-Con next week - it's one of the big movies that Disney decided to leave out of its line-up, for whatever reason. I'm not sure when we'll ever see a trailer - I was expecting to see something this summer - but until that arrives, this photo is going to have to hold us over.

"I'm tired of taking myself so seriously," Gyllenhaal told EW in a completely out-of-context quote. "It's nice when a stuntman turns to you and is like, 'Actors don't normally do this.'" As you'll eventually see (whenever the trailer debuts), Gyllenhaal "found himself sword-fighting, climbing walls, and jumping off of buildings as part of the prince's quest to find an enchanted dagger and turn back time." I'm still quite excited for this, I'm just not that concerned with it yet, because its not going to hit theaters until May 28th next summer. I saw some footage from it last year and it looked pretty damn good, but I'm still waiting patiently for more.

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Related categories: First Look, Hype, Photos

Xerxex

I mean he looks great, but no doubt people are gonna flip out about his apperance! Me I love it, if you don't love then...I don't know don't bother? yeah that sunds about right, don't bother reading about it! or seeing it!
Dan W

Why couldn't they pick someone of persian descent or someone that looks more fitting in that environment. I wonder if he'll have some type of accent. doubt it.
Mr j Money

Looks cool. Troy did too though... i have my fingers crossed.
Jake

the other images were official.
florian

is it just me or does he look.... not persian?
Robbie

TRAILER!!
Dark Fist

In terms of the story of the game series upon which this is based, the Prince isn't necessarily Persian: "The Prince appears in the early Prince of Persia games as the protagonist and sole playable character. He is an adventurer from a foreign land who has never experienced royalty, but wins the heart of the Sultan's daughter on a trip to Persia." Note "from a foreign land".
RC

The Prince always looked pretty Caucasian to me, plus he had an American accent. Those games were never meant to be period pieces, they're just fun action games.
thedarkone

@RC i bet everything look Caucasian to you and cause he had an American accent does not mean his white the reason why he had a American accent cause it was done by a voice actor LOL did you know Kratos from God of War is done by a African-American actor
James

Except the Sands of Time had an epic, poignant storyline. I'm 100% sure they changed the ending from the game.
mega

@7 Dark Fist foreign land = America LOL Prince of Persia is and always been a Persian not Caucasian to many Caucasian playing other ethnic is getting stupid
http://www.sandportal.de/ Sebastian

I hope that the movie will be good. I think we have a chance.
Janika

Yeah they should have picked a Persian. I find it slightly offensive that they didn't. Plus, Jake is ugly as hell and basically makes me want to barf when I see him.
DoomCanoe

#11 "to many Caucasian playing other ethnic is getting stupid" lets think about this as if we were a GIANT movie making company... such as Disney. now lets ask a few very important questions. how many huge Persian actors are in hollywood that you can name off the top of your head? & how many of those huge Persian actors could sell this movie by just putting there name on the poster? ok now that we have thought about that and we can consider 0 names lets just hire Jake Gyllenhaal seeing as how he looks a lot like the main character from the games and everyone knows who he is. dip shit
jack

Who cares what race he is??? captain america aint black but will smith was just confirmed as the actor playing steve rodgers!!! and it will pwn the dark knight!!!
Al

black captain america is just dumb. nothing against black people or anything, but thats just not who the character is. thats like casting rick moranis as shaft.
mega

# 14 does every movie out there need a white actor to sell a movie NO we have seen alot of unknown actors selling major movie so Hollywood could find a unknown Persian to star in a major movie the same way how film studios finding unknown white actors to play the lead actor Adrian Pasdar is middle eastern if you dont know, plus im right every film that meant to be played by Asian or Middle Eastern its going to Caucasian no way Hollywood Studio cant find a Perisan person or any other middle eastern person to play the lead. p.s. your the number 1 dip shit #15 Will Smith is not play Captain America Steve Rodgers it was not comfirmed it was some internet rumor and if he play Captain America most likely it will be Isaiah Bradley he is also known as Black Captain America
mega

# 14 heres another actor for you Dominic Rains looks more like the Prince of Persia # 16 there is a black captain america his name is Isaiah Bradley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Bradley
SEAN

I googled "persian" and not a single Caucasian face came up.
Cody

The guy who had his head chopped off in 300 shouldve been POP...but this might actually be the first good true game to film adaptation. I freaking loved that game but it got way repetitive by the end.
Al

18, i am familiar with Bradley but the planned Captain America film centers on Rodgers(white)
mega

# 21 like i said before Will Smith aint playing Steve Rogers its not even true dont believe what jack said
link1983

looks good, I saw some footage about 3 months ago. It looks amazing. Gyllenhall is amazing.
Welbanks

Jake looks perfect for the part to me, you guys need to stop complaining. The kingpin in Daredevil was played by a African American and he did it excellently. It dosnt matter the ethnicity, chill.
Sabes

I won't make a judgment about Jake till I see a movie trailer. I mean, he might be really good in the part, who knows. He has the part, so people need to just stop complaining. It's not going to solve anything. Let's wait and see. I find him kind of sexy though...so.... >.> My girly side is sold already.
DoomCanoe

Response to #17 are you fucking retarded?... seriously are you trying to think like a Studio or a complete moron?... "does every movie out there need a white actor to sell a movie NO" you know Will Smith is the #1 paid actor in Hollywood right? do you think that's because hes black?.... or because he is a good actor and every single person on earth knows who he is... meaning its his NAME not his ethnicity that is selling the movie. same goes here with Gyllenhaal, its not his race that selling anything its the fact that he is a talented and HUGE actor that everyone knows plus he is taking on the roll of a GIGANTIC video game character that has been around since the NES. Not taking in a WELL known actor would lead to the loss of millions of dollars and i assure you, Disney does not want that. Ok and Adrian Pasdar what kind of name drop was that? the dude is a shitty TV actor... Disney would never consider such a terrible choice on such a large budget movie. not to mention he looks nothing like the character. thank the gods that you don't do anything in hollywood or we would be even more fucked then we are now.
mega

@ 26 i never said Adrian Pasdar looks like the character you asked me if there is any middle eastern person of my head an i named one. i know Will Smith is the number 1 paid actor but im not talking about black actors anyway if you look a the film industry black actors got a better chance then a Asian person. Gyllenhaal is not a freaking huge star he has not really done a blockbuster movie this is basically his real blockbuster movie. you can not denie every roll that ment to be played by an asian also end up playing by white actors if American film industry are pussies that they cant take the risk and hire someone whos not white to play the lead role. also you talking about huge stars playing the lead role what about The Last Airbender the lead actor is Noah Ringer he never even acted his a big risk. Brandon Soo Hoo should of played Aang he has loads of martial arts background plus he star in major movies Tropic Thunder and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
GK

The Last Airbender...the movie based on an American cartoon, with American voice actors, and in which, none of the leads characters even appear to be Asian.....
dan

@ GK The Last Airbender is based on Asian culture was develop by two white guys but for them to do the cartoon and have asian culture to be in the cartoon they hire asian people to help them understand about asian culture one of the people who help develop the show was even shocked about the casting of all the lead characters been played by white actors cause when he helped develop the show him and the creator was making the characters to be asian also voice acted should never be include
Fisherr

Hmm...his Costume is from Warrior Within, interesting.
Rum

The Prince of Persia is white, The Last Samurai is white,.....what is going on here? It's even a Disney movie. That doesn't really give too much hope. This should be rated at least a heavy PG-13
Rum

I hope it's good though. The guy who directed Goblet of fire is directing this.
Dark Fist

@11 mega Uh, by "America" I assume you mean the 'United States of America' and by that you're referencing Jake Gyllenhaal's birthplace in a failed attempt to mock my bringing up that the Prince isn't necessarily from Persia. Well, here's the thing... "America" =/= "Caucasian". Would you be making this same complaint if the actor was born in the United States of Persian parents? And even the term "Caucasian" doesn't mean what you seem to think. "Caucasian"* is a term generally used by people who don't understand anthropology at all but pretend like they have a supportable opinion about heritage and culture. You're obviously one of these people. Next I'm sure we'll be seeing your complaints about how the movie is being filmed in *gasp* Morocco! How much more will they insult the real-world accuracy of the video game series!? Just how many other movies are lying to us!? Talk about "stupid"... *LOL* A little lesson for those who don't want to embarrass themselves like mega: "Caucasian -- of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India: no longer in technical use." Again, "Caucasian" =/= "white".
Meddy

Yes, Persians are of Caucasian descent.... and yes there are plenty of Persians who look similar to Jake with a nice tan. Another little tid-bit, Iran means Aryan. Persians are Indo-Aryan. They are just plain beautiful people from what I've seen. It's sad that Hollywood has to dumb things down like this for the American population. They are after all a business that caters to an audience.... and Stupid will buy more "stupid" and we spiral some more.
Aki

Blue-eyed white guy with a horribly faked English accent coupled with an actual English actress playing quite noticeably non-white roles. Seems Disney is just trying to appeal to the mainsteam fuckwads who will probably go nuts with glee if the threw a Miley Cyrus song into the soundtrack for good measure. Just to make sure to sell as many tickets as possible, we better remove all of the ethnic clothing and have the actors wear some Nike instead, with some Oakley's to keep the hot Persian sun out of their eyes. God help us if we make a movie that features reasonably accurate cultural depictions. NO ONE would ever go see a movie just because they liked the video game or are fans of the genre. Only way people would ever see this movie is if we casted a well known white actor. @ 33: The definition was a moot point. The argument isn't what Caucasian is defined as, it was whether or not a white guy is suitable for a Persian role. Your post had nothing to do with that and your argument is invalid.
patti777

Couldn't they have chosen someone whiter? I mean, why a Swedish guy? Is it just me or do his arms really need a spray tan?
Rush

I dont understand why they couldnt put a person of Persian or atleast Middle Eastern descent to play the prince of Persia. I would have been eually upset if their was a chinese guy was playing King Author in Excalibur. It just doesnt make much sense. It reminds of Back in the 50s when they made the Movie Ten Commandments and Everyone was White . We are now in the year 2010 and this is still going on.