Jake Gyllenhaal is Disney’s Prince of Persia.
The Mouse has tapped the thesp to topline Jerry Bruckheimer’s big-budget adaptation of Ubisoft’s hit fantasy actioner that the producer and Disney hope to turn into another lucrative franchise similar to Pirates of the Caribbean.
Gemma Arterton also has been cast to co-star alongside Gyllenhaal as Tamina in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. She next appears in the upcoming James Bond outing “Quantum of Solace” in November.
Production on Persia starts in July, with Mike Newell lensing from a script by Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard, Boaz Yakin and the game’s creator Jordan Mechner. Studio will release next summer.
Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina, a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent 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.
Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ Mike Stenson, Chad Oman and Patrick McCormick will exec produce.
Ubisoft released the first “Prince of Persia” game in 1989, which has spawned several sequels for various vidgame consoles. Its latest title hits store shelves later this year.
Credit: Variety
