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. A rogue prince named Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess Tamina (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, and a screenplay by Boaz Yakin and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Jordan Mechner.

THE STORY: Filmmakers Take Jordan Mechner's Exotic World to New Heights
"We love bringing audiences into new worlds they haven't yet explored," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "and ancient Persia is one of the most wonderful of them all. It has such a rich heritage of imagination and fantasy, and we've tried to honor that in 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.' We tackle epic films, from 'Armageddon' to 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' and 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' falls right in line with those kinds of movies. It's got enormous imagination, enormous scope and phenomenal action."
Jordan Mechner created his seminal "Prince of Persia" video game in 1989. "I was looking for a universe that hadn't yet been done in video games," says Mechner.  "The early days of video games were like the early days of cinema. We looked to previously established genres, like sword-and-sorcery and science fiction, to find things that would work in this new medium."
Adds director Mike Newell: "I love the idea of it being a living myth that you are watching.  This is a story that's absolutely real and extraordinary--a non-rational, non-physical universe as we now understand it.  These things happen in this film." 
It wasn't Dastan's birthright to become a prince--it was his destiny. As a boy in 6th century Persia--one of the greatest empires the world has ever known--young Dastan is a street urchin, parentless and penniless. Threatened with severe punishment by a Persian Army captain after defending a youngster caught stealing an apple, Dastan is first spared, and then adopted, by the noble King Sharaman, who detects a touch of greatness in Dastan. Raised alongside Sharaman's sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and taught the ways of wisdom and nobility by his adoptive father and beloved uncle, Nizam (Kingsley), Dastan retains his rough edges while growing into a strong young warrior.
"What appealed to me about the story is the notion that everybody has great potential," says Kingsley. "And this is where I thought it would be a very affirming film, particularly for young people--to realize that whilst you might be a child of the streets, it doesn't mean that your potential is any less than that of a child from the palace. Our film is an examination of the potential of a child coming into adulthood, and the choices he has."
Dastan, driven to prove his worth, leads the attack on Alamut, a peaceful holy city which is reported by spies to be hording weapons that are supplied to Persia's enemies. But in fact, Alamut holds a much deeper and greater treasure--the legendary Sands of Time, which gives mortals the ability to turn back time. Dastan comes into possession of an ancient glass-handled dagger, the key to accessing the Sands of Time, but King Sharaman is assassinated and Dastan is accused of the crime. Now on the run and desperate to clear his name, Dastan finds himself in an uneasy alliance with Tamina, a feisty young Alamut princess whose family has guarded the Sands of Time for centuries, and who will do whatever it takes to protect it.
Dastan and Tamina, who are like oil and water from the start, are challenged to survive the unforgiving desert and some even more unforgiving enemies--from the wily Sheikh Amar (Molina) and master African knife thrower Seso (Steve Toussaint) to the deadly attempts of the Hassansins--each one trained to kill with their own lethal techniques. It will take all of Dastan's bravery and fighting skills, as well as Tamina's cunning, in order to uncover the one truly responsible for the king's death, and for him to discover the nobility that truly lies within.
According to Gyllenhaal, the filmmakers had an interesting perspective about the film's fantasy backdrop.  "It was Mike Newell and Jerry Bruckheimer's initial and brilliant idea that this film be based in reality. Mike said, 'I want this movie to be based in the mentality  of sixth-century  Persia, where they believed in fantasy becoming reality,  that you could find a dagger that could  turn back time and have no doubt in the possibility of that happening because that's what they would  have believed back then.'"
At a time when European civilization was but a dim gleam on humanity's horizon, mighty Persia was creating great cities and buildings throughout its vast and mighty empire: Persepolis, Baghdad, Susa, Pasargadae, Arg-é Bam, Isfahan.  The Persian Empire at its height stretched from the Euphrates in the west to the Indus River in the east, and from the Caucasus, Caspian, and Aral seas in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south. In addition to Iran itself, the empire included what are now the modern nations of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the eastern parts of Turkey and Iraq and their surrounding regions.
Two great works of Persian literature greatly influenced Mechner: the Shahnameh, a massive work written by the great poet Ferdowsi in approximately 1000 AD and considered to be the national epic of Iran, and One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of stories dating back to the ninth century that incorporated ancient Persian, Middle Eastern and Indian folktales and legends. Mechner recognized that he could build an alternative world based upon the historical realities of ancient Persia, creating new mythologies about a culture that had created so many of its own fantasies for thousands of years.
Mechner created a protagonist who defied gravity with his acrobatic acumen, yet remained governed by the laws of physics and human capability. "With 'Prince of Persia,' I wanted to create a character that felt like flesh and blood--like if he missed the jump, it would really hurt," he says.
Mechner was not only creating a character who leapt from one precipice to another; the young video-game genius was also taking a giant leap himself, seeking new technologies to bring his world of "Prince of Persia" to life as fully as possible. "The world of the 'Prince of Persia' video game was fascinating," says executive producer Mike Stenson. "It had a wonderful fantasy aspect about it, and the Sands of Time element introduced in the 2003 game was perfect for the big screen. We felt that we should have elements of the game, but, just as we did with 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' develop our own story, taking off from what was given us. But we think we're being true to Jordan Mechner's vision of the game."
Newell was, of course, tapped to direct the big screen's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." Says Bruckheimer, "Mike can do just about any kind of movie, from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral,' which is a dramatic comedy, to 'Donnie Brasco,' a hard-edged, gritty street movie. And then he goes and does 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' which had just the right blend of adventure and mystical fantasy that we were looking for. Mike has a really wonderful palette that he paints from, and that's very important to us. We want an entertaining film that appeals to a broad audience, but also something special, that concentrates on character and story."
"The more exquisite, the more dark, the more agonized, the more true to our fallible human natures a film can be--that's a good Brit picture," says Newell. "But lately, I've been really interested in great, big entertainment--'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' is exactly that--great, big entertainment--and I'm very pleased to have it."

THE MAKINGS OF AN ACTION HERO: Jack Gyllenhaal Leads a Powerful Cast
What qualities make a hero? The role of Dastan required an actor who could be multi-layered: dashing in the classic-movie mode; wily, with a sense of raffish fun; burdened with the underlying gravitas of poverty; and driven to become a better man. Jake Gyllenhaal had already demonstrated his serious acting chops in such films as David Fincher's "Zodiac," Sam Mendes' "Jarhead" and Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," which brought Gyllenhaal an Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA Award.  "Jake Gyllenhaal is an actor that I've been watching and wanted to work with for a very long time," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer. "He's a wonderful actor, exceedingly handsome and a great gentleman. Jake is also incredibly dedicated. He did an amazing job training himself for 'Prince of Persia,' putting on an enormous amount of muscle--fight training, sword-fighting, parkour training, horse-riding. And he continued to work out and train every single day of the more than 100-day shoot." Read more

PRINCE OF PERSIA: JAKE GYLLENHAAL Q & A
"I see my character as a cross between Rafael Nadal, Mick Jagger and Dennis the Menace," says Jake Gyllenhaal about his latest film, the adventure "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." "It's all about having fun," the young actor adds, which may be something of a departure for a star best known for "The Day After Tomorrow," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Zodiac," but it's clearly business as usual for the film's producer Jerry Bruckheimer.  Read more

TACKLING STUNTS AND PARKOUR: Filmmakers Go Right to the Source
From fantastic parkour displays of gravity- and death-defying leaps and acrobatics to outrageous ostrich races to medieval Near Eastern battles on a grand scale, "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" gave its stunt coordinators an epic canvas. The daring team was comprised of first-unit stunt coordinator George Aguilar, second-unit stunt coordinator Greg Powell, Morocco co-stunt coordinator Stephen Pope, co-fight coordinators Thomas Dupont and Ben Cooke, and parkour choreographer David Belle. Read more

SURVIVING SUMMER IN MOROCCO: On Location with Triple-Digit Temps
"Everybody said to us, 'Morocco's a great place,'" recalls director Mike Newell. "'Just don't go there in July and August.' So of course, we shot all the way through July and August."
"It makes perfect sense to film a movie about the ancient world in Morocco," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "because the ancient and the modern coexist side by side. Even with chic restaurants, elegant clubs and boutique hotels springing up all over Marrakesh, artisans in the medina are still hand-tooling their products just as they have for thousands of years. And outside of the cities, life is even more traditional amidst Morocco's mountains and valleys, plains and deserts. With so many films having been made there, there's a great infrastructure with skilled technicians and workers, and the Moroccan government is always very welcoming. Moroccans are great craftsmen, and we used an enormous number of artisans. They did an amazing job." Read more

FILMING IN COOLER, CALMER GREAT BRITAIN: Filmmakers Create a Magical World on Pinewood Studios Sound Stages
The sudden transition from ruthlessly hot and routinely chaotic Morocco to the staid, cool, controlled confines of Pinewood Studios was a kind of culture shock for the company. The fully fabricated but no less wondrous sets designed by Wolf Kroeger were constructed on nine soundstages of the historic studio in the bucolic burg of Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire.
"There's nothing better than being in a real environment, being in a place where you feel like you go back centuries," says Jake Gyllenhaal. "When we were filming in Morocco, we were all in the middle of the desert, dirty and dusty. I can't recall the amount of times between takes you had to just get the sand out of your eyes, mouth and ears so you looked like you weren't literally made of sand. The realism of it all was indelible. But onstage in London, we could mix reality with fantasy, which is all the more interesting to watch." Read more

DRESSING PERSIA: Costume Designer Penny Rose Cuts A Rug…Literally
A nondescript street in a Marrakesh neighborhood known as the Zone Industrielle has a building that could be a warehouse or factory. But in the months leading up to the filming of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," and during the duration of its Morocco shoot, this building was a dream factory, housing a small army of cutters, costumers, cobblers, seamstresses, milliners, dyers, armorers and artisans, all working under the supervision of costume designer Penny Rose.
Read more

HIGHLY VISUAL EFFECTS COMPLETE THE PICTURE: Filmmakers Look to the Pros for Rewinds and Extensions
"Just when you think that you've seen just about everything," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "we stand visual effects on their ear and do things that haven't been seen before. Hopefully, what you'll see on screen in 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' will be something fresh, interesting and innovative."
Tom Wood and his extensive team of producers, managers, coordinators, data wranglers, and technicians were called upon to create nearly 1,200 visual-effects shots for the film. Some were long and involved--such as the time rewinds, the massive sandstorm in the climactic sequence at the Sandglass of the Gods, and the Lead Hassansin's vicious pit vipers--and some were minor little fixes at the edge of a frame.  Read more

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

MIKE NEWELL's (Director) wide-ranging output has alternated between London and Hollywood, from film to TV.
A Cambridge graduate, Newell began directing at age 22, working on numerous plays for TV, both for the BBC and for most of the ITV companies. His television feature "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1977), which was ultimately released as a feature film, served as the springboard to international success. His formal theatrical debut, "The Awakening" (1980), starring Charlton Heston, began to cement Newell's reputation for getting the best results from his actors.
He worked in many genres with films such as "Dance with a Stranger" (1984) and "Enchanted April" (1991), among others. In 1994 he made "Four Weddings and a Funeral," the record-breaking romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell.
Returning to America, Newell made the Mafia thriller "Donnie Brasco" (1997), delivering outstanding performances from Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, followed by such films as "Pushing Tin" (1999), starring Cate Blanchett, John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie, and "Mona Lisa Smile" (2003), with Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Newell served as executive producer on several projects, including "Traffic" (2000) and "High Fidelity" (2000). As the director of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005), Newell became the first British director to helm an installment of the hugely popular franchise.
Newell's recent credits include Colombia's "Love in the Time of Cholera," an adaptation of the classic novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, starring Julio Bardem.

Author, screenwriter and video-game designer JORDAN MECHNER (Executive Producer/Screen Story By) is best known as the creator of the "Prince of Persia" franchise, with more than 14 million games sold to date and the feature-film adaptation due in 2010.
Mechner's first graphic novel, "Solomon's Thieves" (First Second Books, May 2010) , is a swashbuckling action-adventure about the historical Knights Templar, illustrated by LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland.  Mechner also penned a new "Prince of Persia" graphic novel, "Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm"; Disney Book Group published it in April 2010 to tie it in with the film's release. Mechner previously collaborated with First Second, Pham & Puvilland on the 2008 "Prince of Persia" graphic novel written by A.B. Sina.
Mechner began his career as a video-game creator in the 1980s with "Karateka" and "Prince of Persia," two of the first games to combine arcade action with realistic animation and cinematic storytelling. Both titles became number-one bestsellers and are now considered all-time classics. Created and programmed by Mechner on an Apple II and published by Brøderbund Software, "Prince of Persia" was adapted for nearly every computer and console platform and was a major influence in the development of the action-adventure video-game genre. Mechner designed and directed a successful sequel, "Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame."
Mechner next founded independent developer Smoking Car Productions, where he led a 30-person creative team in the production of the critically acclaimed 1997 CD-ROM adventure game "The Last Express," still considered one of the most ambitious and artistically successful interactive narratives ever attempted. "Karateka," "Prince of Persia," and "The Last Express" secured Mechner's reputation as one of the video-game industry's most highly regarded original creators.
In 2001 Mechner relaunched his decade-old "Prince of Persia" for a new generation of gamers. With Mechner as game designer, writer and creative consultant, "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" was one of the biggest hits of 2003, sweeping the Interactive Achievement Awards (DICE) with 12 nominations and eight awards and making "Prince of Persia" one of the most successful and enduring video-game franchises of all time.
In 2004 Mechner pitched "Prince of Persia" to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who challenged him to adapt his own creation as a feature film.  Three more "Prince of Persia" sequels have since been published, bringing total game sales to more than 14 million; the next title is "Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands" (May 2010).
Mechner wrote and directed the documentary film "Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story." It won the 2003 IDA award for Best Short Documentary, was short-listed for an Academy Award® nomination and received its broadcast premiere on PBS Independent Lens in 2005.
Mechner's upcoming projects include writing a feature-film adaptation of Michael Turner's comic-book series "Fathom" for Fox Studios and actress Megan Fox, as well as a new original graphic novel for First Second. He received his B.A. from Yale University.

A writer and director with a gift for dealing with controversial issues on personal, human terms, BOAZ YAKIN (Screenplay By) was born in New York City. Yakin's parents had a creative bent--they met in Paris while both were studying mime with Marcel Marceau--and after graduating from high school, Yakin opted to study filmmaking at New York City College. He soon moved on to New York University and made his first deal for a screenplay at the age of 19. Yakin worked in the film business helping to develop projects for several companies and saw his first screenplay reach the screen when "The Punisher," a vehicle for Dolph Lundgren, was released.  A year later, Yakin's next screenplay, "The Rookie," arrived in theaters, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen. Wanting to take on more personal material, Yakin directed his own screenplay, "Fresh," attracting talent such as Samuel L. Jackson and Giancarlo Esposito to star in it, and the film won critical raves, earning the Filmmaker's Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival, as well as prizes in the Tokyo film festival and other festivals throughout Europe.  Yakin went back to his youth for inspiration on his next project; his experiences with the Chassidic community informed his next directorial effort, "A Price Above Rubies," which was released by Miramax Films.  Yakin next took on his first studio project; "Remember the Titans," starring Denzel Washington, for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The film was a major box-office success, and a perennial audience favorite.  He then made a foray into comedy with "Uptown Girls," starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. As a producer, Yakin formed the company "Raw Nerve" with partners Eli Roth and Scott Spiegel, from which they unleashed the "Hostel" films on the world.  Most recently, Yakin wrote, produced and directed "Death in Love," a controversial film that had its premiere at the 2009 Sundance film festival.

DOUG MIRO & CARLO BERNARD (Screenplay By) co-wrote two of this summer's most highly anticipated films for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," based upon the video game series, directed by Mike Newell and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," an action adventure starring Nicolas Cage, directed by Jon Turteltaub.
Miro and Bernard's credits also include "The Uninvited" for DreamWorks and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and "The Great Raid" for Miramax. They are currently at work on "National Treasure 3" for Bruckheimer and Turteltaub.
Miro and Bernard first made their mark with "Motor City," an adaptation of the novel "Edsel" (Loren Estleman), a film noir set in 1950s Detroit. The team also adapted Dean King's "Skeletons of the Zahara:  A True Story of Survival," which chronicles the wreck of a Connecticut merchant ship and the crew's subsequent adventures in the Sahara Desert in 1815. After reading their adaptation, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy hired the writing team to work on the script for the upcoming "Tintin." Miro and Bernard grew up together in suburban Detroit and have known each other since they were 8 years old.  Miro received an MFA from the USC Film School and a BA from Stanford; Bernard graduated from the University of Michigan. They are both long-suffering Lions fans, but remain certain the team is headed in the right direction.

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