MoviesDailyNews - Jake Gyllenhaal Crowned as the Prince of Persia (it should have been David Belle)

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Jake Gyllenhaal Crowned as the Prince of Persia (it should have been David Belle)

Written by Spanner

Wednesday, 21 May 2008

A game-to-movie adaptation that's been anticipated by gaming fans for a long time now is, without doubt, the Prince of Persia. Ubisoft, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films are now set to bring us the big screen debut of the Prince, based on the Sands of Time game.

Based on the classic computer and console games created by Jordan Mechner, Gyllenhaal will take on the role of 6th century Price Dasta who, with the help of the feisty and exotic Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton, who appears in the new Bond film Quantum of Solace) must stop the evil Fazier from acquiring the Sands of Time and ruling the world.

While Gyllenhaal will be adapted to make the role work, parkour inventor David Belle was the natural choice for the Prince. Shame on you Hollywood.

With a script by Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard, Boaz Yakin and the game designer Jordan Mechner, production is slated to begin in July in England and Morocco. All Bruckheimer would say about the budget was "It's not one of our smaller productions.", which suggest the reason being selecting Gyllenhaal as the Persian prince. While he'll unboubtedly live up to the role with the help of a legion of stunt men and a warehouse full of CGI, MoviesDailyNews dares to suggest there are more suitable actors whom we'd quietly hoped would land the part - namely parkour pioneer David Belle.

Last seen in Luc Bessons's Banlieue 13, Belle's blindling urban gymnastics, taught physique and mildly Middle Eastern colouring make him the perfect choice - undoubtedly rejected due to his non-American heritage. We hope the film does well as this is one of out all time favourite games, but without the natural choice of Belle leading the cast, the Prince of Persia adaptation can only be poorer.