Disney's next summer blockbuster is "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time."
The story is set in medieval Persia, where a king and his son, Prince Dastan, defeat the powerful Maharajah and kidnap his daughter Tamina. They begin looting his palace of priceless treasure, including an extravagant hourglass, when the prince finds a mysterious dagger that holds untold powers.
Jake Gyllenhaal ("Donnie Darko," "Brokeback Mountain") stars as the prince and Gemma Arterton ("Quantum of Solace") plays Tamina. Alfred Molina ("Spider-Man 2") and Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi") round out the cast for the film.
The movie is based upon the best-selling game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time made by Ubisoft. I can only hope it won't be another addition into the lackluster trend of failed video game adaptations.
"Prince of Persia" is a joint effort by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The studio hopes that this will be the first film in a popular, new franchise like Disney and Bruckheimer's other live-action franchise achievement, "Pirates of the Caribbean."
I don't have a lot of faith in making films out of video games. While the "Resident Evil" films are decent (though the last one was pretty bad), there will always be films like "Super Mario Bros." and "Street Fighter" to further warrant why some games just don't make good movies.
Below is a featurette on the film which includes an interview with producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
With Disney behind this latest feature, we can hope to see something along the lines of what they are basically trying to copy (the success of "Pirates of the Caribbean"). While this film pretty much looks like "The Mummy" with all that sand, I'm sure I will wind up seeing it when it comes out.
What about you?
"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" hits theaters May 28, 2010 and is directed by Mike Newell ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire").
