Fans of Ubisoft’s bestselling video game franchise Prince of Persia will have to wait a bit longer to see the property brought to the big screen. Originally slated to debut on June 19, 2009, the action-fantasy flick from Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer will now bow on Memorial Day weekend, 2010. Daily Variety reports that Disney wants to allow more time for post-production, especially the extensive visual effects work. The switch also dodges the June 26, 2009 release of the DreamWorks/Paramount blockbuster sequel Transformers 2, putting the film up against DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek Goes Fourth instead.
Jake Gyllenhaal has been cast in the lead role of Dastan, a prince in sixth-century Persia who teams up with a feisty, 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. The female lead is being played by Gemma Arterton, the next Bond girl in Quantum of Solace, which comes out this November. Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina are also in Prince of Persia.
Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is directing from a screenplay by Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard, Boaz Yakin and game creator Jordan Mechner. Shooting is scheduled underway in Morocco and will move on to London.
Inspired by The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, Mechner teamed with developer Br’derbund to launch the first Prince of Persia Game for PCs and early consoles in 1989. Ubisoft decided to bring the franchise to PlayStation 2, Xbox and Gamecube in 2003 with Sands of Time, which has spawned six sequels.
