BREAKING: Jake Gyllenhaal is 'The Prince of Persia'!
Filed under: Action, Casting, Deals, Fandom, Newsstand, Games and Game Movies
See, it's totally NOT Orlando Bloom. Instead, as previously rumored, Jake Gyllenhaal has landed the lead role in The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for director Mike Newell, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer. Remember how we told you to expect both leads to be announced at the same time? Well, starring opposite Gyllenhaal will be ... Gemma Arterton. Yes, that random up-and-comer who recently nabbed a role in the new James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace. In the film, Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young Prince who teams with an exotic princess named Tamina (Arterton) on a mission to stop "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," so says The Hollywood Reporter. The film, of course, is based on the popular video game (which I've personally never played) and, if successful, might turn into a brand new explosive franchise for Disney. Can Disney ultimately find a way to succeed with a video game adaptation where others have failed? And what do you think about Gyllenhaal playing the prince? Arterton as the princess? Good casting choices or completely off course?
Sound off you Persia fanboys (and girls)!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-20-2008 @ 3:16PM
Corey Atad said...
Well. Disney and Bruckheimer succeeded at the even less likely adaptation of a theme park ride. I'm sure as long as they have a good director (which they do) and decent writers then this should be a pretty good flick.
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5-20-2008 @ 3:18PM
Liz said...
This casting is just as bad as Orlando Bloom. Talk about whitewashing...
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5-20-2008 @ 3:30PM
LiqwidZero said...
Actually, Jake Gyllenhaal is a pretty good actor, but I would much rather have had Disney choose someone that looks like an authentic Persian.
5-20-2008 @ 3:33PM
Liz said...
Yes, I should clarify, I like both Bloom and Gyllenhaal, I just can't picture either one of them as being "Persian."
5-21-2008 @ 5:01PM
Awsomenosity said...
so u know how persians look like back in the day? huh. 1 of my friends is a full persian. but he looks like an american
5-20-2008 @ 3:32PM
Zack said...
Major FAIL.
Terrible casting, they could at LEAST get somebody who looks like the Prince!
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5-20-2008 @ 3:42PM
Joshua said...
I still think they should have cast Mila Kuunis as the princess she has the look for it, and i am not to upset about jake he will work well but should start working on his tan.
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5-20-2008 @ 3:59PM
carg0 said...
awesome. perfect casting. all they have to do is change the title to something like "The Prince of Milwaukee"...
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5-20-2008 @ 4:15PM
ananda81 said...
The Good:
- It is not Orland Bloom
- Jake Gyllenhaal is a great actor
The Bad:
(- that the movie is being made)
- Jerry Bruckheimer
- I really wish they would have picked someone completely unknown for the role of the Prince
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5-20-2008 @ 5:04PM
Morteza said...
The name they've chosen for the character of the prince is a bit whacky. It can mean either "story" or "hands" depending on how you pronounce it. Either way, it's not a traditional name.
As for Gyllenhaal's casting, it's not too bad. Early Persians (aka Iranians) had light skin and eyes, so people's perceptions of Persians as dark-skinned or swarthy is not entirely correct. It was only after the Arabs invaded Iran/ Persia that our skin color changed. Even today, though, most of us are pretty darned honky. We are, after all, the original Caucasians.
The Arabs also forced Islam down our throats, but that's a story for another day...
I do hope the producers are careful about the mythology they create. Iran is the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, which is the mother of Judaism/ Christianity/ Islam. It is more or less monotheistic, and so, hearing about "gods" makes me wince.
And no, I'm not Zoroastrian, but I kinda wish I was.
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7-06-2008 @ 7:29PM
Yorch said...
Oh no worries regarding gods on the film. I've played the three PS2 games of Prince of Persia and there's no god-related talk. All you have is magic time-control powers and sorcerers seeking inmortality.
In this movie, Dastan (first time we hear the prince's name) is son of king Shahraman from the [fictional] kingdom of Nasaf. Tamina is a princess captured in Alamut, which is another "kingdom", taught of as a Holy City.
Anyway, I think Gyllenhall actually LOOKS like the prince -at least the one designed by Ubisoft for "PoP: Sands of Time" game. In this first installment, the Prince should look young, skillful and brave, which I think Jake can handle quite well.
It is not until "PoP: Warrior Within" (seven years after the events in "Sands of Time") that the Prince looks mature, terrible and badass... not to mention his appearance in "The Two Thrones", where he looks evil. Maybe for the second and third movie they'll need another actor, since the Prince is so different from the one in "Sands of Time".
Look at these screenshots from the first game by Ubisoft. The Prince doesn't even have long hair:
http://www.ubi.com/UK/Games/Screenshot.aspx?pId=585&sId=3772
http://screenshots.teamxbox.com/gallery/579/Prince-of-Persia-Sands-of-Time/p1/
A bit of hollywook makeup will do. I only hope Jake trains hard for the parkour scenes they've promised us :)
5-21-2008 @ 4:12AM
mayorjimmy said...
Yeah, he looks PERSIAN. Way to F that up hollywood.
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5-21-2008 @ 5:41AM
Xenia said...
Do you even think that they should have casted someone really Macedonian to play Alexander the Great? Or really Hispanic to play The Gladiator?
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5-21-2008 @ 5:04PM
Awsomenosity said...
Wasnt the princess called Farah in the game?
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5-23-2008 @ 11:35AM
nina said...
I am so disappointed :(
I am a big fan of that game, and I hoped that they will find someone who really have that charisma of the Prince. Jake looks like baby, and who's Gemma?
I hoped that movie makers will pay attention to fans' opinion, but as we can see they don't care.
My favorite choice for this role is an actor who had already created the Prince character in perfect way, as seen on his web site: www.saygonvillage.com even for all three parts-he rules!
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5-23-2008 @ 11:47AM
Eddie said...
Thanks Nina for this site, I am so excited after I saw this site! WOW! This actor has the real look, he has everything that Prince really is - and the costumes were probably very expensive, they look terrific!
I agree with you - he's the one!
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5-23-2008 @ 11:59AM
Archie said...
Disney people - do you know what are you doing? You have eyes or not? Do you have any sense for casting? As a fan of Prince, I think that your approach to this movie is not professional at all. This Jake guy is not bad actor, but for this role, it is just like Jim Carrey plays Tarzan or Superman. If you want to make comedy, well... you will succeed. Go and see this man at http://www.saygonvillage.com - he is Prince in person!
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5-24-2008 @ 6:23PM
Maria said...
This guy is NOT the prince of persia
Go here to see the one who SHOULD be...his name is Hrithik Roshan and is the true prince...
http://www.housefull.in/wallpapers/hrithik-roshan/hrithik_roshan-1.jpg
And this should have been Tahmina...she looks wait more like Farah:
http://www.parinda.com/files/storyimages/Bipasha_Basu_no_entry.jpg
Why is jewish zionist owned Hollywood so stupid and racist?
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5-24-2008 @ 6:25PM
Maria said...
I just threw up a little in my mouth at the thought of Jake Gyllenhall playing a Persian Prince and Averton play a wannabe exotic princess....she doesn't look exotic at ALL.
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8-01-2008 @ 10:57AM
jill white said...
You could at least have the decency to get the girl's name right - it's "Arterton"