One hell of an adventure

A highlight of this holiday weekend is the return of Indian Jones to our theatres, which, more than ever, puts me in the mood for the advent of a new adventure hero on to the big screen - Prince Dastan, Prince of Persia. Instead of hat and whip, we'll have silks and scimitars, and instead of tanks and trucks, it'll be chases by parkour, with almost every inch of the landscape - urban and rural - utilised with high energy and power. And right at the centre of all the action and the source of the energy will be Jake Gyllenhaal.



Last year, Latinoreview, that great source for all things PoP, published a preview of the Prince of Persia Sands of Time script. There are light spoilers but there is also great enthusiasm for the script's faithfulness to the spirit of the highly regarded games. The verdict is that this is 'one hell of a script' and that: 'Prince of Persia is one hell of an action adventure script which will be sure to thrill general audiences and fans of the game. I can’t wait.' Neither can I.




The preview also mentions that big element of the game and movie - Parkour - for which Jake has been doing all of the physical training to stunning effect (with hopefully that ankle injury well healed): 'What is also super-cool about the script is the use of PARKOUR. Parkour is a physical art of French origin, the aim of which is to move from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment — from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls — so Parkour can be practiced in both rural and urban areas. The Prince of Persia games utilized Parkour and it is cool to see it intact in the script and a part of the storyline... Parkour is finally going to be given a worldwide audience with Prince of Persia. Because of the incredible athleticism and shape you have to be in to practice Parkour, I would think that narrows down the choices to play Prince of Persia’s lead character – DASTAN.' The choice has, of course, been narrowed down to one (Thanks to a reader for the link).



Despite a WDW reader reporting that archaeological excavations of a royal burial at a Persian palace had revealed evidence of spandex and the possible remains of a Nike swoosh, there has been speculation about the garb that Jake will be wearing this summer (setting trends no doubt). Here are some ideas (thanks to everyone who sent me pictures).






It's encouraging to see that a shirt is clearly not considered necessary by many. And I'm liking the armbands, the swathes of fabric and the concentrated expression (although I'm not so sure of the goatee). I'm also not so sure that this look is practical for Princess Tamina, although the prince looks appreciative.


Another update on Nailed (again)

This is becoming a regular feature at WDW - an update on the problems hampering the Nailed production and a prediction on when work will resume. According to Hollywood Reporter: Capital Films' 'head of business affairs, Ray Reyes, said a high-profile commercial bank and bond company were on board Friday, working "feverishly" to close the deal... Production is expected to resume Thursday. Reyes said the financial problems are a result of a financing deal that fell through... "Obviously, five weeks into production was not how we planned to do this," he said. "Things didn't work out as originally planned with what we were doing and we had to fall back on a contingency plan. The whole chapter will come to a close, thank goodness, when we close our loan."'



'Despite the setbacks, Reyes said the project has only lost a few days and while a shutdown was not expected, he said it comes at a time where the producers were rearranging the production schedule anyway. A source close to the production said it already was planned to start a Thursday-Monday production schedule - rather than Monday-Friday - following the Memorial Day holiday because many of the scenes being filmed are in public buildings, including the state capital.'


So, all in all, this sounds quite promising (again) and it also means that Jake had better put his feet up this holiday weekend, because next weekend is going to be a busy one on set (hopefully...).


THINKFilm, of Capitol Films, has some big films on show at Cannes but, according to this report from the film festival, 'the company's presence at the festival so far has been reserved, almost timid.' Not surprising.


Includes pictures from IHJ.