Prince Of Persia, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s big tentpole for the summer of 2009, has just become Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s big tentpole for the summer of 2010. Yes, the Mike Newell-directed videogame adaptation, which started shooting last week in Morocco, has been pushed back by nearly a year, from June 19, 2009 to Memorial Day weekend in 2010. For those of you who don’t know when Memorial Day, don’t worry – it’s at the end of May. The reason for the delay? To finish the thing and to get the special effects absolutely right, which is very commendable. Then again, it’s hard not to sympathise with the caution shown here by Bruckheimer and Disney, for whom the hope is that the Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer will be another Pirates Of The Caribbean-style cash cow. The move into 2010 takes Prince Of Persia away from Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, which would have opened a week later. In its place, though, Disney has moved up its Ryan Reynolds-Sandra Bullock rom-com, The Proposal – or The Counterprogrammer, as it perhaps should now be known. It will now open, in 2010, one week after Shrek Goes Fourth, with nothing currently scheduled to go up against it. We must say that it seems strange for movies to be staking out release dates two, sometimes three years in advance, but the stakes are higher than ever these days (God, we sound old), so you can’t blame studios for indulging in what Kurt Cobain would have referred to as territorial pissings (and that reference really makes us sound old). What do you think, readers? Excited about this? Dismayed that you’ll have to wait another year to see Jakey boy fling himself off buildings and whatnot? Or are you slightly cynical about the reasons for the delay? Vent your spleens below.

Chris Hewitt

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Your Comments

RE: Honestly, who cares?
Yawn?? you blatently haven't played the POP games have you? They're fantastic (more so the first one-the sands of time). if they were so lazy as to just copy every scene from the games, including the actual game play, the film would be immense! I can't wait to see what they've done with it. (you must care a little or why would u bother taking time to write anyways ;) ) ... Read More flyaninnocentlife About me
15:44, 06 August 2008 | Report This Post
RE: What if Israel or the US attacks Iran before Christmas?
BTW, Persia is now modern day Iran in case you were wondering. .- Yeah, thanks for the history lesson. Nobody here went to school ... Read More Severen About me
12:38, 05 August 2008 | Report This Post
why is gyllenhaal in this? he doesn't seem like the kinda guy to go for role for the money. ... Read More spikespiegel About me
21:04, 04 August 2008 | Report This Post
Honestly, who cares?
Video game movies. Comic book movies. Big YAWN. If they're so convinced that this film will make a stack of money then it must have been tactically diluted of all original thought and/or artistic risk. Should be at least as soulless as POTC, if not more so. ... Read More Nicky C About me
13:41, 04 August 2008 | Report This Post
What if Israel or the US attacks Iran before Christmas?
Do you think they'll change the title to "Prince of Kurdistan", or maybe "Prince of Yemen"? BTW, Persia is now modern day Iran in case you were wondering. ... Read More jerome maz About me
13:31, 04 August 2008 | Report This Post
RE:
uppity bitchinig idiots.  lol.  nice line.  To be honest,  are there many 'Mainstream' middle eastern actors which could be put in this position?  Theres going to be a lot of money  thrown at this.  They're going to want a name with some clout behind it.  I don't think there are any middle eastern with enough behind them to do it. IMO ... Read More darkarius About me
12:48, 02 August 2008 | Report This Post
yeah, people complain because of the 'dubious' reasons for the delay yet what happens when release dates are pushed forward? The Mummy Returns is what happens, so stop bitching. jesus these days no matter what a studio does people will bitch and moan. Why don't you just shut the fuck up and wait for the film, or even better react to whatever they're doing wrong by voting with your feet....of course then you might be proved wrong, god forbid a bunch of uppity bitching idiots get made to look ... Read More clarkkent About me
06:40, 02 August 2008 | Report This Post
RE:
I can't imagine this film will be brilliant but i think we could see a computer game film that's not a massive turd for once. Really it isn't that hard to make a half decent computer game film, they just never seemed to have had the big production they need. ... Read More somekindof_battery About me
01:16, 02 August 2008 | Report This Post
Another year for graphics? Good, this movie can use a lot of attention to the coloring and effects. If they stay fatefull to the games at least. ... Read More Bluehawk About me
23:46, 01 August 2008 | Report This Post
Oh who cares if he's black, white or asian or whatever? It's Jake Gyllenhal!! He's brilliant and I love him! And in response to the news, he can have ALL the time he needs to make it as perfect as possible because he's lovely. ... Read More mozzy_gal About me
19:18, 01 August 2008 | Report This Post
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