A new hero rises in "Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time"

CEBU, Philippines - From the team that brought the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy to the big screen, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” an epic action-adventure set in the mystical lands of Persia. 

In the film, a rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal)) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Gemma Arterton) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

Directed by Mike Newell (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) with a cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina, “Prince of Persia” is written by Boaz Yakin and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Jordan Mechner.

“It’s a classic tale of someone having their world turned upside down by extraordinary circumstances and having to use all their resources to come out the other side,” Mike Newell explains what drew him to the script. “I also loved the idea of going to a place I had never been before. We had the freedom to create this whole amazing world because no one knows exactly what it looked like. The time period is also one when people took stories very seriously, and there wasn’t a division between what was a fable and what was real. To me the story of the film feels like one of the great myths: something that’s quite simple in a way, but bites very deep and you remember it life-long.

Was Jake Gyllenhaal his first choice to play the title character and what was it about him that got him the part?

“You had to have someone of a certain age,” answers Newell. “The prince had to have a command of the screen, which Jake obviously does and is partly what makes Jake a very interesting actor. I looked around and Jake was the first name that came into my head. And though I did meet lots and lots of other actors, I kept coming back to him.”

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.