Turning the Prince of Persia into a movie star - Jordan Mechner talks PoP

As someone who has sent the Prince of Persia to an agonising death on multiple occasions since the late 1990s, I am delighted to see Jordan Mechner get some attention for helping to ensure that the movie will do credit to this amazing series of games. A game that was inspired by movies has now become that movie and Jordan's prince has now become a moviestar. That's what Jordan says and that's a great recommendation for gamers and movie fans alike. And it has Jake Gyllenhaal in it. That can't hurt.

HeyUGuys has today published its video interview with Jordan. It's a long one and full of interesting stuff about the processes of bringing both the games and the movie to life.



Some snippets that interested me in particular include this bit on Jake's suitability to become the prince: 'I wasn't involved in casting but I love the cast. I think they're all terrific. Jake looks a lot like the prince in the game. He's a great actor and I think for me he embodies a lot of the qualities that sort of define the kind of hero that I've always seen the Prince as. He's a warrior, but he's also got a sort of mischievous quality, a certain vulnerability and I think Jake brings that to the screen in a way that's really appealing.'

On Sir Ben Kingsley: 'He's the sweetest, gentlest man but he's absolutely terrifying'.


'We really made the move to stand on its own so even if you've never played Prince of Persia, you've never played a video game, you can completely enjoy it. But for people who have played the games, there are definitely moments of physical action that sort of allude to the game, that gamers can appreciate on another level.'

'To me, the Prince of Persia is almost an old-fashioned kind of film. It's romantic, adventurous, and it's got these epic production values that can only be done today by a producer of the stature of Jerry Bruckheimer. For me, it's very much the kind of movie that inspired the original game and very true to that tradition. But, at the same time, it goes beyond it. It's more epic that I could have imagined. I love it and I hope the gamers will too.'


Game Arena has also been talking to Jordan Mechner about making a film that will appeal to gamers, not just to fans of a movie with lots of swash being buckled. He also says that Jake himself showed himself to be a bit of a PoP gamer (I wonder if Jake mastered the leaping backwards off a pole move): 'You know, I think Jake Gyllenhaal played Prince of Persia games. He was pretty into it. What’s interesting is that when I was in London to meet the craftspeople – the people behind the set design and costumes and so forth... all the people working behind the scenes. I found that a lot of them were real gamers and they were deeply into the Prince of Persia games.'


The result should be a film that will appeal to PoP's faithful gamers: 'Well, I hope they love it. I do. For me, Prince of Persia is the kind of movie that I’ve always loved – the ones that really inspired me to make games in the first place. It’s almost like an old fashioned, swashbuckling, romantic adventure.'


'I think Jake makes a great Prince Dastan. He looks a lot like the character in the Sands of Time videogame but also he has a lot of qualities that for me has always been a part of who the Prince of Persia is. He’s a warrior, and does incredible stunts and parkour and so forth but he also has a mysterious streak and an attitude and I think a vulnerability that is part of the character’s appeal.'

Also good to hear there is 'portcullis action' in the movie, something that gave me nightmares in the first game. Sadly, though, there is confirmation that the sand monsters got the chop.


Includes picture from HeyUGuys and corking new old pictures of Jake from IHJ from People and an outtake from Mario Testino's Let Me In. I have new laptop wallpaper.