Jake Gyllenhaal Crowned 'Prince of Persia'
By BORYS KIT, Reuters
Posted: 2008-05-21 11:11:43
LOS ANGELES (May 21) - Jake Gyllenhaal will
star in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," Disney's feature
adaptation of Ubisoft's popular video game.
Ian McKellenCast In: 'The Hobbit'About the Role: The 68-year-old actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for his turn as true-hearted wizard Gandalf in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, will reprise the part in director Guillermo del Toro's 'The Hobbit,' playing a younger version of himself who helps Bilbo Baggins (Frodo's uncle) slay a dragon.
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Mel GibsonCast In: 'Edge of Darkness'About the Role: This thriller, based on a BBC miniseries, marks Gibson's first starring turn since 2002's 'Signs.' He'll play a straitlaced cop investigating the death of his activist daughter.
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Brad PittCast In: 'Chad Schmidt'About the Role: Pitt will play the eponymous Chad Schmidt, a wannabe actor whose career is hurt by his uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt (also played by -- you guessed it -- Brad Pitt).
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Emma WatsonCast In: 'Napoleon and Betsy'About the Role: The 'Harry Potter' star will play an impetuous young noblewoman who falls for diminuitive French dictator Napoleon whilst he's in exile on the British Isle of Helena.
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Shia LaBeoufCast In: 'New York, I Love You' & 'The Dark Fields'About the Roles: After shooting the Anthony Minghella-scripted portion of the anthology film 'New York,' "The Beef" will play a slacker dude who ingests a top-secret drug to make him smarter -- but begins to experience seriously trippy side effects -- in the psychological thriller 'Dark Fields.'
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Natalie PortmanCast In: 'Wuthering Heights'About the Role: She'll play Heathcliff's star-crossed lover Catherine Earnshaw in the latest adaptation of Emily Bronte's classic novel.
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Elizabeth BanksCast In: 'W.'About the Role: The 'Definitely, Maybe' star will play First Lady Laura Bush to Josh Brolin's George W. in Oliver Stone's (supposedly) fair biopic.
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Leonardo DiCaprioCast In: 'Shutter Island,' 'Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,' 'Low Dweller'About the Roles: He'll reteam with Martin Scorsese for the first two, playing a U.S. Marshal and a young Teddy Roosevelt, respectively. And he'll star as an ex-con in Ridley Scott's 'Dweller.'
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Ben AffleckCast In: 'State of Play'About the Role: He'll star opposite Russell Crowe in the murder mystery thriller 'Play' -- and he could also be on tap to reprise his role as CIA analyst Jack Ryan in Sam Raimi's franchise reboot.
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Adam SandlerCast In: Untitled Judd Apatow ComedyAbout the Role: Apatow is keeping a lid on the plot to his 'Knocked Up' follow-up. He and former roommate Sandler last worked together writing the script for this summer's 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan.'
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In the fantasy adventure, Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a
young prince in 6th century Persia who must join forces with
Tamina (Gemma Arterton), 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.
Mike Newell is directing the project for producer Jerry
Bruckheimer, who praised Gyllenhaal as "charismatic" and
expressed high hopes for Arterton, a British actress who tested
for the role.
"We've been fairly fortunate with some our leading ladies,"
Bruckheimer said. "Some of them have gone on to become major
movie stars, going back to Nicole Kidman in a movie I did a
long time ago called 'Days of Thunder' to Keira Knightley out
of ('Pirates of the Caribbean')."
Bruckheimer declined to comment on the "Persia" budget
other than to say, "It's not one of our smaller productions."
Production is set to start in July in Morocco and England.
Arterton is relatively new on the film scene but already is
generating heat for her work in Guy Ritchie's upcoming
"RocknRolla" and the new James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace."
Gyllenhaal's recent credits include "Rendition," "Zodiac"
and "Jarheads."
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2008-05-21 10:19:38
