The much anticipated live-action adaptation of the popular Ubisoft title finally has a cast, script and release date.
Fans of the immensely popular Prince of Persia franchise should be excited to know that the movie is set to begin production in July.
In medieval (6th century) Persia, the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it's up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time.
Don't expect the adaptation to follow the storyline of the video game too closely, however. Jordan Mechner, who co-wrote the script had this to say about his approach: "Rather than do a straight beat-for-beat adaptation of the new videogame, we're taking some cool elements from the game and using them to craft a new story - much as 'Pirates' [of the Caribbean] did with the theme park ride."
In terms of the cast, Dastan (the young prince) will be played by Donnie Darko's Jake Gyllenhaal and the newest bond girl Gemma Arterton will play princess Tamina. Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) has also been cast as Shiek Amar and Sir Ben Kingsley (Ghandi) will take on an unknown role.
The film is being distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The release date has been set for June 19th, 2009.