As has been widely reported, Harry Potter made a massive impact at the box office in the last few weeks, and continues to do so. Success was inevitable, and the level of success predictable. Harry Potter is one of the most popular book series of all time, appealing to fans both young and old. All previous installments in the Harry Potter movie series have made hundreds of millions of dollars, and with the finale in sight, anyone with even a passing interest in the boy who lived wants to see how it all ends.

The success of Harry Potter financially, particularly in the case of Deathly Hallows, is also however part of a much bigger movie trend. We have seen, in the last year particularly, an apparent rise in the popularity of the family movie. Whilst in the past it has been big, effects heavy action movies that have been the big hitters, it seems there is now just as much interest, if not more, in family orientated, action adventure movies, in both animated and live action form.

It started at the beginning of the year with Alice in Wonderland. Directed by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, it was always going to have elements that would appeal to both children and adults alike. The novelty of the 3D experience was also just starting to become wildly popular thanks to Avatar, resulting in Alice setting the box office bar high early on in the year.

Then along came How to Train Your Dragon. The year’s first big animated movie, the original nature of the storyline, not based on a recognisable property, meant that How to Train Your Dragon started reasonably slowly at the box office. This Dragon however had long legs, and the combination of the 3D factor and fantastic word of mouth meant that it became a massive box office success.

The trend continued throughout the year, particularly with animated movies such as Shrek Forever After, and the big gun Toy Story 3. Toy Story 3 broke records to become the highest grossing animated movie of all time. Despicable Me enjoyed moderate success, and just a few weeks ago Megamind helped set a record for box office figures on the opening weekend of the Winter period.

There have been less live action success stories, but Prince of Persia broke the $100 million mark. With the recent success of Harry Potter, and the inevitable big money openings we can expect from the latest in the Chronicles of Narnia series and Disney’s Tron sequel, by the end of the year live action family movies will be nearly on a par with their animated peers financially.

Why, then, have family orientated films exploded in popularity recently? One factor that may have played a part is the recent global recession. Yes, you would expect that in a depressed economic climate, financial success would be more unlikely. However, with families forced to tighten their belts over the past couple of years, a lot of the entertainment budget for a typical family has been put to other uses. Now, instead of Mum and Dad going out for dinner, or on nights out with friends, and kids being taken to clubs and sports and the like, a family trip to the cinema looks to actually be a cheaper prospect. A £7 cinema ticket is cheaper nowadays than two pints of beer, or a bottle of wine, so is far more economically viable per person than a night on the town with friends. Combining everyone’s leisure time also means they can spend more quality time together.

Another part of the reason is that family movies are far more appealing now than they used to be to a lot of adults. Where once animated films were seen as childish and aimed solely at children, this perception has changed thanks in large part to the original Toy Story. Animated movies have become far more sophisticated. Pixar successfully combined adult humour with kid friendly slapstick action, and all the other studios began to follow suit. Now, it isn’t unusual for a an animated movie to be written with adults in mind first, and the kids second. Wall*E, for example, was actually quite boring to many young children, and achieved its popularity thanks to the appreciation of its adult audience.

With CGI now becoming more affordable, and available, live action family movies are also better equipped to sell to a broad audience. The action in family movies used to be confined to slapstick and pratfalls, but more affordable computer effects mean massive worlds can be used to entice adults and children alike. Films like Harry Potter would have been very difficult to make in a realistic way years ago, and the animatronics and plastic sets would have probably looked far too cheap and silly for a lot of the grown up audience to contemplate paying money to see. It is now far easier for the mature audience to buy into the worlds being created, as fantasy figures and locations are able to look much slicker and more realistic.

In the case of Harry Potter, it is also very much the themes explored and the richness of the original source material that have made the movies a must see experience. Adults were already engrossed in the novels before the first film was released, and in many cases the parents were looking forward to seeing the films as much, if not more than their offspring. This success has lead to similar types of book series being written, and adapted, like The Golden Compass and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It has also seen older works like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe dusted off to capitalise on this newfound interest in magical family adventure.

Only time will tell if the family movie boom will continue on for an extended period of time. Certainly, there are many external factors that influence cinematic tastes and trends. A major upturn in the economy, another massive global event, or even just the introduction of a new favourite source material amongst movie makers could all change the dynamic overnight. For now, however, family films rule the box office. With Harry Potter and Megamind still going strong, Tangled now on release, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Tron: Legacy imminent, it is going to be a family affair in theatres this Christmas. Maybe that’s just as it should be.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

© Disney

To celebrate the release of Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, we are giving away five copies of the Disney Triple Play pack (Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy) to you, our lovely readers!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is available on Disney Blu-ray, DVD and Triple Play edition that includes a digital copy from 13th September and you can preorder your copy here.

Synopsis: 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. A rogue prince (JAKE GYLLENHAAL) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (GEMMA ARTERTON) and together, they battle 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.

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME is directed by MIKE NEWELL (“HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE”), the cast includes SIR BEN KINGSLEY and ALFRED MOLINA, and the screenplay is written by DOUG MIRO & CARLO BERNARD adapted from a story by JORDAN MECHNER and BOAZ YAKIN.

To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous prize, all you have to do is answer the following using the form below:

What is the name of Sir Ben Kingsley’s character in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close Monday 20th September (release date) at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

For more Disney DVD’s check out: disneydvds.co.uk

© Disney

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/09/06/win-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-on-disney-triple-play/feed/ 0 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/05/28/the-final-clip-from-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/05/28/the-final-clip-from-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 23:56:59 +0000 David Sztypuljak http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=23523

Over here in the UK, we’ve had Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for an entire week. The US get it tomorrow and to celebrate, Yahoo have released this brand new clip from the movie which is directed by Mike Newell and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina and Sir Ben Kingsley.

In this new clip, we get to see Jake’s character, Dastan discover the dagger but he’s yet to find out what power it holds.

You can click here to view our rather extensive Prince of Persia coverage including a review and interviews with all the cast.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the latest movie to be brought to us by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and I was very eager for this latest production to be another hit like Pirates of the Caribbean or National Treasure.

Going into a movie with massively high expectations isn’t always a good thing however as the movie has more potential to let you down.  Read on to find out what I thought.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is based around the computer game designed back in the late 80′s by Jordan Mechner, a man who wrote the first draft of the movie screen story and executive producer on the movie. It’s helmed by British director, Mike Newell, who has a range of different genres under his belt including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Donnie Brasco and Four Weddings and a Funeral. This latest Disney / Bruckheimer project is by far his biggest undertaking but I’m pleased to report that he did a mighty fine job.

The cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal as our leading man, Prince Dastan, Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina, Alfred Molina as Sheik Amar and Sir Ben Kingsley as Nizam. We also get to see the debut of young, British actor William Foster who opens the movie with some excellent parkour (free running), bouncing off walls, jumping off high ceilings and running through a market square to avoid being caught. It really is quite an opening and sets the standard for things to come.

Synopsis: 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.  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.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, reveals the story of a kid from the street who gets adopted into the royal family after showing courage saving a young boy in a city square. Years pass and we get to see young Dastan all grown up, fighting for Persia alongside his brothers Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), Tus (Richard Coyle) and uncle Nizam (Sir Ben Kingsley). After discovering that a Holy city known as Alamut has been forging swords and other weaponry, weaponry that would be used to attack Persia. Rather than waiting for an imminent attack, The Persians decide to strike the first blow.

With this first blow comes the main opening sequence of the movie called ‘The Attack on Alamut’ and what an opening it is! Watching the creativity of the writers unfold was great, and for me it was a perfect opening sequence, showing the taking of an impenetrable fortress. This sequence was filmed at Pinewood Studios on the James Bond stage and the production value of this scene is excellent. Watching hundreds of horses and hundreds of extras storming towards the city is spectacular. Good so far…..

Now, there is a myth that in Alamut lies a princess who is the most beautiful in the world. Well, they wouldn’t be far wrong as the woman in question is British Hollywood A-Lister in the form of Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina. Tamina is also the spiritual leader of the City, and holds the most important job in existence, the protector of the the Sands of Time which are hidden within a dagger.

So there’s the back story, so, is the movie any good? I think in a nutshell, it’s not as good as I was hoping it to be, but I did really enjoy it. I actually watched the film twice to make sure that my initial thoughts were valid and watching it for the second time confirmed it. The action sequences are awesome and watching the parkour (of which there are two main sections within the film) is fantastic. Parkour Legend (and Inventor) David Belle choreographed all the free running stunts in the movie and he did a fantastic job. Even down to working with William Foster (young Dastan) who had to perform many of his own stunts and looked like he been doing it for years.

Alfred Molina serves as the comic relief in the movie and in my my opinion is one of the highlights. Wait until you see the Ostrich scene and you’ll see exactly what I mean! Sir Ben Kingsley plays the usual professional part that he always does, with the chemistry between Gemma Arterton and Jake Gyllenhaal working throughout the movie. Now, onto Jake Gyllenhaal’s accent. If you didn’t know already, he uses a British accent, English to be exact, and does a mighty fine job of it. In fact, if you didn’t know that the Hollywood a-lister wasn’t American, then you would come out of the cinema thinking that he was English.

Prince of Persia may suffer from its story being a bit too confusing with our main characters bouncing around Persia or jumping around in the desert without really knowing what their final aim is, and when the finale of the movie comes, it’s a little messy. It’s hard to describe this in full without spoiling the movie so I’ll let you see what you think and you can tell me in the comments section below.

Prince of Persia may be a little confusing in places but ultimately, it’s a wonderful movie with many more positives than negatives. The set design in the movie was excellent. I don’t want to repeat what I said in my Robin Hood review a couple of days ago but again, it was so nice to see money spent on original sets rather than just relying on CGI.

No doubt a second movie will be made and I look forward to seeing it as I’m sure this franchise has a million and one places it could go. It was great to see a computer game turned into something that was thoroughly enjoyable, and I highly recommend a visit to the cinema when it’s released in UK cinemas next Friday, 21st May (today!).

You can keep track of all extensive Prince of Persia coverage here.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to interview all the main cast of the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We also got to interview Mike Newell, the Director and Jordan Mechner who invented the original computer game back in 1989 on the Apple 2 computer.

I’ve already put up the interviews with the Prince of Persia creator, Jordan Mechner, director Mike Newell and the legend that is Sir Ben Kingsley and leading lady, Gemma Arterton and we have the last, but by no means least, interview with Prince Dastan himself, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Jake was a pleasure to interview. He was smart, witty and very proud of what he’s accomplished with both this movie and his previous work. I’ve also placed below a video interview with Jake given by our friends at Upbeat. I’ve also put a rather amusing outtake below too which i think you’ll like!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 21st May and you can check out my review here.

It’s such a huge production, we’re you the indie guy?

I guess so, I think I’ve made tonnes of different films but this is definitely the biggest.

How did you feel when you first saw the set?

When you’d drive up to set, and even at Pinewood, there would be 500 cars when you pass. In Morocco, everyone who was there was an international crew and only the drivers were native. There would be thousands of cars as you pass up to like a sporting event. So every morning it was like an adrenaline rush.

It would take me 40 minutes to get into my costume like I was suiting up to a game and these sets were insane. It was mind-blowing to see the detail. You could shoot in any corner of the set. Two units were shooting to about 100 feet up and the rest would be CGI.

Are you hooked on it now?

I do really like it. I’ve just done two more movie that were considerably smaller in size since this one and it was a really wonderful thing to doing after such a big movie like this one. I think I did need to feed a different aspect and use different muscles and my skill set! Once you’re doing this and jumping off thing and fighting people and looking like a bad-ass it’s hard to not want to do it again!

Did you play the video game before taking the part?

Yeah, it was a very difficult training process and research process, I had to exercise and play video games (laughs!). I cannot say I’m a card carrying gamer but I do love playing video games. As a kid I played the side scrolling version of the game on the first Mac computer, took a 20 year hiatus and then got the script and I thought ‘Wow’. The primary research material was a computer game so I got the game and started playing it as research as I would if I were meeting marines to play a marine; I approach it with the same intensity and focus. I looked at the storyline of the game and look at the script. And Jerry (Bruckheimer) emphasised this, in order to do a good adaptation of a game, you have to have the courage to veer away from it, you have to know the video game really well.

When you finished shooting did you stop the exercise?

I’m always athletic, I always exercise, it’s something I believe to be…. I want to be around for a long time. I run long distances and I bike long time so I didn’t do as much of the parkour training, sword fighting, the riding of horses, it’s not really popular in Los Angeles!

Where do you influences come from?

Somebody like Paul Newman who did wonderful things for the human race.

Was he your Godfather?

He was not my Godfather, it’s a rumour, and my poor dad gets annoyed because people say ‘Paul Newman taught you to drive’, and my dad’s like ‘oh, all those wasted hours!’

And Jamie Lee Curtis is your Godmother?

She’s my celebrity Godmother yes. And I would give her the honorary Godmother position because I am incredibly close to Jamie.

So what was your relationship with Paul Newman?

He worked with my mother and he was writing a script and he sort of fell for my mum cos she’s so talented, so cool and he just fell for my family. He was very engaging, and caring and cared about many people and was always interested in when someone was struggling. He was just amazing. As I started to act more, he would advise. If he saw something he’d call me up.

If you talk to different actors he had relationships with he was open enough to ask advice. To be someone like him was, I think, you have the responsibility to answer questions to help the younger generation to answer the questions that they have. Any great actor who’s of an older generation, I ask them questions all the time. It was no different with Paul. It was like that with Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon. That’s the amazing thing about what I’ve done with my life so far, I can call Dustin up and say ‘what about this and that?’.

You grew up in a family in the film industry. Have you ever thought you’d be anything but an actor?

I consider this the start, the beginning of one of the things I would like to try. It’s not the be-all and end-all but there are other things I would like venture into films in other forms. I grew up watching actors, not being an actor.

Would you like to direct?

I would, I’m almost 30 and I think it’s becoming less presumptuous of me to think I could. I would like to write and direct.

Do you have any ideas on things to write / direct?

Some…. things…..?! (laughs and reveals nothing!)

Do you find being in the spotlight a bad thing?

I don’t find it a bad thing. I’m no fool, I know what these movies are. My intention with this movie, that if young boys and girls like Prince Dastan, that to me is the goal of this movie. Making this movie was about going back to the 8 year old who played the first version of the game, and who loved Indiana Jones, and The Goonies and E.T. and to this day, when I see those movies, I got back to being that boy. I’ve made this movie for that part of myself and for all those kids. For me that is a whole new audience for me.

Did you get hurt at all filming?

I did a few times. Some cuts and bruises but it’s all…. so funny…. and sick too! You kinda wanna get hurt like sometimes I want to get cut and bleed and I’d go ‘hey guys’ come and see my cuts to the stunt guys! But there’d be three of four guys who looked like me. I remember jumping over one unit and tap a guy on the shoulder and there were three main guys, Ben Cooke and who did acrobatics and jumps, most of the fighting stuff I did myself. But the big, big jumps I couldn’t be there, different things, I would do. And I’d be like Ben, second unit, Mark, go to the big jump and we are all the character of Dastan. It’s taken the lifetime skills of six people, primarily to make the character of Dastan – I mean a parkour expert, a horse riding expert, a sword fighting expert to make the character. And I get to look like I have all these skills but the character of Dastan is four guys and I just happen to be one of them.

——————————

Prince of Persia is released in the UK May 21st (TODAY!). You can see interviews with all the cast on HeyUGuys so stay tuned or check out all our Prince of Persia Coverage here.

Check out our interview with Jake below conducted by Simon from Upbeat. I think you’ll find the outtake (the second video) rather amusing.

Film Trailers by Filmtrailer.com

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to interview all the main cast of the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We also got to interview Mike Newell, the Director and Jordan Mechner who invented the original computer game back in 1989 on the Apple 2 computer.

I’ve already put up the interviews with the Prince of Persia creator, Jordan Mechner, director Mike Newell and the legend that is Sir Ben Kingsley and we still have an interview with Jake Gyllenhaal to come.

Today we have Gemma who plays the beautiful Princess Tamina in the movie. Meeting Gemma was a privilege. And yes, she’s a beautiful lady to look at but much more importantly she’s an absolutely lovely person who loves what she does but is also very shy and insecure in a lot of ways. You’ll see some of those insecurities in the interview below.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 21st May and you can check out my review here.

What do you like most about Tamina?

She’s not just a princess. She’s very spiritual and a priestess really. She has real depth, a real soulful side to her. The film is very male dominated with lots of action, and a lot of the characters are quite brutal. She’s this real elegant, graceful presence, but at the same time she’s really feisty and gives the guys a run for their money. She is funny, witty and humorous too. She’s a really well rounded character and a good role model for girls.

What’s her lethal weapon?

Her lethal weapon is her wit. She doesn’t really fight unless she has to, so when she does have to fight (because she’s religious I suppose) she just hits people over the head with what’s nearby. When we were talking about the character they were like: is she a warrior? and I said no, she’s peace and love, she’s never had to fight in her life, she’s scared when she fights and she does it because she has to, not because she’s trained to. Her lethal weapon is her tongue.

Quantum of Solace, Clash of the Titans and now Prince of Persia, it seems Hollywood is knocking on your door? How does it feel?

Very strange and surreal when I see myself in those movies, especially this one I think. When I first saw this movie it took me a while to get my head around the fact that I was in it. I was a very normal girl and all of a sudden I’m there with Jake. It’s very strange for me and I always saw myself doing theatre and little jobs. I never thought I’d be in anything like this. Now that these films are coming I still find it very strange.

At the same time you’ve been in Tamara Drewe and Alice Creed so there’s these bg budget films but small stuff too. How do you decide what you’re going to do?

Well at first I didn’t really have the option of choosing because it’s hard to get work, especially as an actress, so if you get given a role you just do it. I was very grateful to get the work. Now I’m in the situation where I’m starting to be able to choose and I deliberately chose Alice Creed which is very opposite to Prince of Persia and with Tamara Drewe too. I think it’s important with those films that it’s the ones I’m more selective with. These films are what they are, they’re popcorns movies  and entertainment but creatively for me, I’m very interested in challenging that. I make sure I do theatre too and I’m very fortunate in that I can do both and it helps get the smaller films made.

How did you get involved in acting?

I always enjoyed performing. I was a bit of a show off in school but I never really knew about other side of acting, the challenging and emotional side of acting. I used to watch musicals and Hollywood movies I suppose and I never really knew about anything else until I was 16 and watched Dancer in the Dark because I was a massive fan of Björk. I watched it on my own in my bedroom at 2 in the morning and was absolutely destroyed afterwards, I couldn’t sleep that night. I thought wow, there is this other side to acting and she’s a singer, how did she do that, the director must have helped. So I got into, especially European films from then on and that really excited me and inspired me to become and actress. Those are the sort of film I go and see at the cinema. I’m not the sort of actress that would let something affect me like that film did with Björk but I do like to challenge myself. I did a film that’s just come out in the UK called Alice Creed which did that for me and I’m really proud of it.

Did you ever have a plan B if acting didn’t work?

I’m so rubbish! You know I’ve never put pressure on myself. I think it’s the way I was brought up and my mum always said do whatever makes you happy and acting really made me happy. I thought if it doesn’t work then it’s not the end of the world, there are millions of other things that I can do but as of yet, I’ve not been in that situation so I’ve never really thought about it. I mean I love music and art, I paint but I’ve never really thought about it.

In Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia, we get to see the wild side of you, does that come from true life?

Yeah! I think the reason I got Prince of Persia, because I was quite feisty in the audition. I didn’t know what Prince of Persia was. It rang a bell but I was never into computer games (surprisingly!) when I was a little girl and so I went into the audition quite blasé. I didn’t think I was going to get the part anyway so I thought I’ll just be myself. Mike Newell said to me:

“Can you do a posh accent because she’s a Princess” to which I said:

“I trained at the Royal Academy of f*cking Dramatic Arts, I can do whatever you want me to do!!”

You know, really bombastic like that and he said:

“I want YOU to play this part!!”

From that day he wanted me to play that part but I had to convince the producers then which is a whole different ball game.

So you didn’t go up to Jerry Bruckheimer and say the same thing you said to Mike?

No! Although I have been cheeky in the past and some people don’t really listen to my cheekiness!  I went to drama school and you’re surrounded by actors all the time desperate to get work and they’re not themselves and I think actually people want to see personality and I tend to get these strong roles in male dominated films which may reflect a little bit of who I am!

You look so beautiful and it surprises me that you call yourself a freak in interviews?

Well I am a bit of a freak. I’m not perfect and I do talk about it! I think people think actresses are perfect and they’re not, they’re just people. I’m always very aware of the younger generation as ive done a lot of movies kids watch, and I get a lot of letters from kids saying ‘ I want to be like you’ and I want to say ‘you can’ because you don’t have to be perfect to be an actress. I was born with deformities, I’m really clumsy, I’m not what you see on the screen, there’s four hours in makeup, you’ve got to go to the gym, it’s not a given!

Did you draw inspiration from the computer game for your part in the film?

Well, luckily my part is very different from the computer game, she’s a lot more of a sex goddess in the game and this is a Disney movie so we decided not to go down that route! The idea is from the video game which is completely original so he took the idea from the video game and just elaborated it so it could be a film. We wouldn’t care about what happens to the characters; they would just be jumping off walls. There needed to be a story there needed to be emotional connection, good guys bad guys and a feisty princess in the middle.

You’re playing the video games fans fantasy girl!

Yeah, I find that really weird!

You’re the new Lara Croft!

I don’t know about that, I don’t know! Someone said to me the other day that you should play Wonder Woman. I said yeah, yeah, I’m happy with that, I don’t know about Lara Croft though, she’s far too hot!

What have the game fans been saying?

Well, when I got cast in this there was a future about me not being….. every time I get cast as a lead in a big Hollywood movie (which has been twice now actually!) there’s a been a ‘she’s not hot enough’ especially when I got the Bond Girl part.  ‘oh she couldn’t play a Bond girl because she’s not hot enough’ blah blah blah, boring, boring, boring!

How do you feel when you hear that?

Well, I have to say I agree with them so I’m like yeah, I don’t know why I’m here either! I remember when I got cast in this, in the first ever meeting I went to the casting directors’ house. She sat me down, I’d never met her before and no one knew who I was, the Bond film hadn’t come out yet. Just before I went into the meeting I was in her kitchen and she’d left the names and pictures of everybody that they were seeing for Jakes part and for my part and I’m looking through and I’m like ‘I’m never gonna get it!’.

Who were the other in the list?!

(Laughs a lot!) I can’t tell you, I can’t tell you! But you can imagine, you can imagine. I remember going through it and going: ‘look at her! She’s so hot, she even looks like she could be Persian! I cant play this, I’m just some plain English girl’ and I think that really helped me get the role because I just really didn’t believe I’d get it. I remember saying to Mike when I got it, ‘why didn’t you cast Natalie Portman or Freida Pinto or whoever in the role because they probably should play it’ and he went ‘well, you’re the right actress for the role’ and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, maybe they want the right actress and not just the look’ because it’s Hollywood, they can spent a lot of money on making you look like a different race, and making you look hot if you need to be.

Were you self conscious when you’re cast in the role?

Yeah, I was self conscious because I was the only girl in it. There was Jake looking amazing in it and then there’s me and I’m meant to be the female lead draw and I feel really awkward with that. I don’t feel like that at all. I don’t know, I mean with every job I do, you always have your own insecurities.  The next role I’m playing is a really fat geek. And I’m really happy about that.

Are you willing to gain a lot of weight?

Yeah, I’ve done it before. I’ve gained weight, lost weight. I think if it’s right for the role. As long as it’s not excessive, then I don’t mind doing it. I feel more comfortable with that because then I don’t hae the pressure of being really glamorous. You can have a spot or a bad hair day where as with this film every day was immaculate. You just have to get over it. I have to keep telling myself that I’m an actress, not a model and its more important that I can act than look good.

When you see yourself on screen as a Princess, what do you think of her? Can you break away from Gemma?

No, I just can’t do it. I remember at one point I said to them, don’t film this side because I’ve got a crumpled ear and they’re like ‘you haven’t got a crumpled ear’ and I’m like ‘I have!’. At one point there’s a shot in this film and my face covers the screen and that’s the side of my face and I’m like my ear is the size of that door on the screen. I’m sitting there screaming and my friends who came to see it with me says you’re being ridiculous.

I remember watching the film, I’ve only seen it once but it was so weird because everything about it is pure old-school Hollywood. It reminds me of Lawrence of Arabia meets Indiana Jones and then im in it! I just can’t get my head around it!

How does your family react?

They’re really cool actually. They’ve been broken in quite gently. The Bond film was a big deal for them being British but not they’re not so bothered. It’s great for me because when everyone’s fussing around you it’s not so helpful.

What’s it like working on a Bruckheimer movie?

Immense! I mean, I think it’s the apitamy of Hollywood film making. Even on the Bond film and Clash of the Titans, It was nothing in comparison to this in terms of scale. Even just the sets, I had this palace built for me in the film and it was immense. It was the size of the Bond stage which is huge at Pinewood Studios.

When we were in Morocco, we were taking on this tour before we started film of all the sets and one was a city with all the streets and you could walk round it in half an hour seeing things that would never get seen on camera but they’re just there incase they are. Hundreds of horses, hundreds of extras. It’s just immense and it’s quite intimidating sometimes because you think they’re spending all this money on this because it’s going to be my face and then that in the background! So I’ve gotta make it kind of look alright! It’s a different ball game working on a Bruckheimer movie.

Would you ever move and live in Hollywood?

I’ve only ever been to Hollywood once. I’ve got such a great life here in London and also lots of films come here, I’ve never had to work there. All the Hollywood movies I’ve done have been here. And Martin Scorsese is coming here this year and everyone seems to be coming here to make their movies, which is great for me!

I work very hard but I’m very lucky to have such a normal life and normal friends outside of it who don’t do what I do and that keeps me grounded. I’d find it too much to live there.

If they make a sequel, would you want to be in it?

Yes, in this movie she’s protecting herself. Maybe they’d become allies, she could open up a bit more. There’s a lot more to be found. If they did make another one it would be so different to this one. I’d love to do another but I think we’d have to see how this one does first

So you haven’t been asked to do another one?

Maybe!? (she answered this in a ‘yes they have’ kind of way!)

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Prince of Persia is released in the UK May 21st. You can see interviews with all the cast on HeyUGuys so stay tuned or check out all our Prince of Persia Coverage here.

Check out Upbeat’s interview with Gemma below:

Film Trailers by Filmtrailer.com

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to interview all the main cast of the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We also got to interview Mike Newell, the Director and Jordan Mechner who invented the original computer game back in 1989 on the Apple 2 computer.

I’ve already put up the interview with the Prince of Persia creator, Jordan Mechner and Mike Newell and we still have interviews with Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, to come.

Today we have Sir Ben Kingsley who plays Nizam in the movie. Please note, this interview contains spoilers but this is such a great interview where Sir Ben tells us how he got into acting and how he finds his characters that he plays and I urge you to read it because I think you’ll love it. Meeting the legend was an honour and I wish I could have talked to him for longer.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 21st May and you can check out my review here.

How did you get involved in the Prince of Persia project?

Mike Newell very much wanted me to play Nizam because I think he wanted to bring that patriarchal element to the film and have the terrible disappointment of Jake’s character manifesting in his performance

‘No, I didn’t want him to be my nemesis, he’s my uncle. He’s watched over me all my life. He pulled me literally out of the gutter. I don’t want it to be him!’

And I think Mike wanted to manoeuvre that part of the story for Jake and myself into one of disappointment rather than one of simple two dimensional revenge. So I think because of Ron Pickups, Alfred Molina’s, mine, Gemma’s to a lesser extent but very strong comrade, a deep appreciation of dram and then to gt that template and apply it to a Jerry Bruckheimer film, it works. Because, what Jerry and Mike did together, and I know there were battles, but good ones, right through the editing process and Jerry says ‘action’ and ‘plot’ and Mike says, no ‘character’. And he’s made them work. He’s pulled them together.

Were you convinced from the beginning or did you need convincing to play the part?

Oh heavens, I’m a song and dance man. When I was a kid, I was called a Danny Kay of the family. (Danny Kay was an extraordinary comedian in the 50s). So I’m a song and dance man. I love doing this.

Were you always an destined to be an actor when you were growing up?

Four! I was four when I went into the cinema and it was very extraordinary because Martin Scorsese saw this film when I was a little boy. And within a week of telling Marty about this film, he’s given me the DVD! So I can watch it now and cry all over again. The film is made by Havlock Ellis in the 50s (It’s called Never Say no to a Donkey) and it takes place in post-war Italy and many Italian kids were orphaned by the bombing. This little boy doesn’t have a family, but he has a donkey, called Violetta. He runs a business, like a haulage business. He carries straw, wine, bricks, food and even drunks home, he carries them home like a taxi driver. He’s very, very young, he’s 5. And full of energy, adorable child actor for this film and the donkey gets sick and this is where I, as a boy in the cinema was uncontrollably grief-stricken, cos the donkey is there dying. And the little by is determined to knock a big hole in the wall of the chapel of St. Francis of Assisi in his town, to get his dying donkey into the chapel to either live, or go to heaven. And the priest is saying well, you can’t knock the wall down. Higher and higher up the hierarchy; they say he can’t knock the wall down. And eventually he gets to the Rome and he sees His Holiness, The Pope. And you never seen The Pope, all you see is the Pope’s hand go bang on the letter. And the little boy holds the letter and it’s like an odyssey, like a Greek odyssey, he goes all the way back to his village and he has dispensation to knock a hole in the wall of the chapel. And the last shot in the movie is the boy leading his donkey through the hole in the hole they bash through the masonry. And this amazing shaft of light of the donkey going through the hole with the boy. I was uncontrollable. Never take no for an answer, it’s going to be on my gravestone!

This was in Salford in the North of England I left with my mum and dad and I was very moved by the story and totally identifying with the little boy cos I looked very like him. The cinema owner, saw me leaving the cinema and with his own hands, took me and lifted me above the audience in the foyer shouting ‘It’s little Popeto!’ and there I was, being praised for the performance of the little boy on the screen. For a few seconds they thought it was me!

So this was your first premiere?!

It was my first premiere that I was praised. I was praised for being part of the story and I also love the story and so I identify with the little boy.

And now I further identify with the little boy. Then for years after that, as going to school, doing errands for my parents, I imagined myself being followed by an invisible camera crew. Hence the Danny Kay of the family, hence the career. But then working with Martin Scorsese, I told him this story and he gave me the DVD.

There’s not a film he hasn’t seen though is there?

He’s got 40 000 films in a massive computer in his hotel room. So I have it, I can watch it, I can whistle the music, I know that film frame by frame.

Did being the Danny Kay of the family, did that help you to cope with the more physical parts of Prince of Persia?

I did a lot of my own action stuff in this film. I had a brilliant stunt double called Miloch who was from Slovakia I think. And I’m not very confident on the back of a horse. The animal unnerves me a little so he did a lot of my riding but then in close-up of course it has to be me.  The sword fights he does and then Mike wanted a big close-up tracking shot of me and Jake fighting and me and Jake did that fight together and it was very frightening. Because you can get so close into Nizam and think ‘my god, he really is eaten up with envy and regret, he could kill somebody’ the pathology really is that deep but it was really good to do those stunts that afternoon. But I trained to do that but I thought I’d do one or two strokes and a stunt man was going to come in and do the rest but I did that and I climbed the mountain at the end too. That was a very exciting day.

Do you enjoy playing the bad guy?

If I can find envy and regret. I enjoyed playing Don Logan in Sexy Beast because cos I found out he’d been abused as a child. And all his grief and rage comes from being an unhealed abused child and there are hundreds of those guys and they’ll go on abusing others because they’re unhealed – that gave me the link with him so if I can find that dimension that says why. But I’ve seen performances of Richard III, I haven’t played him, sometimes I’ve seen how, other times I’ve seen the actor saying why and there we are, now you’re doing it, now you’re cooking. Why are you like that, here’s your answer.

Where did you find your ‘bad guy’ link to Nizam?

I think I found it in the writing, and using the writing as a wonderful map and then beyond the map seeing the deeper dimensions of this character. Although the script will present you his actions, what he does and what he says, I can see there is a very deep motive and when you can find that motive, everything will fall into place.

With Ghandi, it was not ‘what a nice man’ it was ‘what an angry man, what a deeply angry man’ and everything fell into place. Everything made sense.

It’s nice to see you moved so much by the passion of your profession. Did you ever have a time in your life when you didn’t enjoy it?

There are certain hinge points in the journey and there is always light and shade and I believe they are always connected. The light and shade and the balance between them. There was a time in the Royal Shakespeare company in the 80s in a massive production that I felt utterly lost and like a cog in a very clever machine. That I had little autonomy, little freedom, just do what you’re told. And I was quite despairing. And in order to get away from the brink of life I was leading as an actor, I took a couple of books out of the library and one of them was the biography of a man called Mahatma Gandhi and two weeks later Richard Attenborough calls me.

So out of that darkness, I was propelled into this huge amount of light and I’d had a little hint before as well from the book. It’s funny that was the book I chose. So are pushed by our past or pulled by our future? I’m not entirely sure I know.

Do you believe that Ghandi is your brightest light?

Well I learnt a lot, but I have been very blessed by the directors I’ve worked with and have done some amazing projects. I have to say that Marty is as bright and that shutter island was a very light enhancing and light illuminating experience because it’s about love and life.

You’ve still got the beard from Shutter Island. Is it here to stay?

I’ve had this on and off since sexy beast and I really like it. I don’t like shaving it off and I don’t like wearing anything on my head like wigs but I think I’m going to have to slightly change it for my next film directed by Martin Scorsese which is shooting in London at Shepperton Studios. It’s called the Invention of Hugo Cabret and he’s asked me to play the one and only Georges Méliès who was such a fantastic star in early cinema as an actor, magician, film maker, director, set designer, everything and he did have this (points to the beard).

When will you start this new project?

Well, we’re starting now doing makeup preparation, costume fittings, script, and in earnest, well start as soon as we get back from Prince of Persia in the States so early June.

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Prince of Persia is released in the UK May 21st. You can see interviews with all the cast on HeyUGuys so stay tuned or check out all our Prince of Persia Coverage here.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to interview all the main cast of the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We also got to interview Mike Newell, the Director and Jordan Mechner who invented the original computer game back in 1989 on the Apple 2 computer.

I’ve already put up the interview with the Prince of Persia creator, Jordan Mechner which you can see here and we still have interviews with Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, and Sir Ben Kingsley but today we get to hear from the director of the movie, Mike Newell.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 21st May and you can check out my review here.

How Hard is it to make a movie based on a computer game?

We went through a big evolution. When we started, one of the things I said to Jerry Bruckheimer was, ‘I’m not in the generation for video games, does it matter and if so, how much does it matter?’

At that stage, everyone was aware that we had to make a story that was a general audience, not a game audience that had real scope and epicness to it, character, action, romance, comedy and all of those things and then little by little we discovered that the gamers themselves are very vocal, they had websites and all sorts of stuff and asked, when are we going to make a decent movie out of a video game?

I took it seriously in that I knew I had to understand the game and I tried to play it, got three steps to some revolving knives and had to get my assistants to play it for me! I would watch and take notes on weaponry, clothes and that sort of thing. But there wasn’t enough plot to make the movie like this, there wasn’t enough fusion between the two.

A couple of weeks ago I showed some of the movie to a group of gamers in San Francisco to see what they thought but, we won’t know for sure until they start saying on they’re websites if we’ve succeeded or not.

Are you ready for the critics?

I’m never for the critics, they’re always punishing and you can never understand why then don’t think that it’s the best movie ever made and you’re bitterly hurt by any other response.

Do you feel that you have made the best game conversion to the movie possible?

No. And the reason I say no is because I didn’t conceive of it as anything I should do. I wasn’t making a video game, I was making a great big movie. I was making a Bruckheimer movie and there is now such a thing as a ‘Bruckheimer movie’, it’s a genre. What I then did was to put up roots into the game and I cherry picked bits out of the game. I picked some shapes of the weapons, costume, the moves. But I didn’t set out to make a movie of the game, I set out to make a movie of a very good script about an absolutely fascinating thing which is what happens to people when they discover that a fable is real. This thing starts out as a fable and then this thing turns out to be real it’s a terrific shock. The example I use for myself is it’s a story like Noah, except instead of rivers you’re drowned by sand. For exactly the same reason, you’ve committed some indescribable sin and the gods are not going to let you get away with it.

In 1995 there was the 4 Weddings and a Funeral Mike Newell, then 2005 Harry Potter and now Prince of Persia – How has this happened?

I remember my then agent and my then lawyer sitting around a pool in LA and pleading with me saying, ‘Just do Harry Potter, you can do the tiny little movies after’ and I said ‘oh OK!’

I loved doing HP cos I could make a kind of film of it that they hadn’t done before. Daniel Radcliffe asked me if I’d been watching films for this. I said yes, I said I’d been watching paranoid thrillers like North by Northwest and I could see a way of moving that movie and I knew I’d have a good time and could also make it funny. Then Jerry asks you to make a movie and it’s like someone coming along to make a space movie or a cowboy movie and with PoP I really liked the story, I loved the idea of turning real people into a fable, and you have to say yes. I’ll make small films again I very much hope.

Did you cast Jake and Gemma and if so, why?

Yes. I’ve known Jake since he was a small boy, since he was about 10, as I knew his mother and father, then I knew him slightly through Mona Lisa Smile and through his sister, Maggie. I thought Maggie was great and I was surprised there was acting in the family as his mum’s a writer and his father’s a director but there they were. I’d seen him and I thought that what I had to have was no a prince, I had to have a trickster, an anarchist, a rebel, someone that would down the social scale from the rest of the royal family – this kid’s no royal, he’s from the steet and I had to have someone who had an anarchic sense of humour.

With Gemma, I was looking for a very particular thing. I seriously thought of going into Bollywood for that character. They’re staggering looking girls and some of them can act too! (Laughs!), and I didn’t expect to find her in this country. I met Gemma and I adored her. I met her sister, her mother, her father and all that but she’s a terrific actress. And I sort of fell in love with bits of her.

Which bits?!

I love her neck!

Did you have to fight for Jake?

I wouldn’t say I had to fight for him but he wasn’t an obvious choice. I introduced him to Jerry and they talked to him several times as he’s a huge investment. An awful lot of money is riding on his head and then he was convinced.

How did you transition from films like Four Weddings with no computer graphics (CG), to Harry Potter to Prince of Persia which are extremely CG heavy?

It’s what happened to the game (the business of making movies) in my lifetime. When I started, it was at the time of the Vietnam War and I didn’t go anywhere near the war but the equipment I used in TV was completely radicalised around the war because they had to have a sound camera that you could literally hold in one hand or they couldn’t run with soldiers. They designed one and it was called an Atrar. They said it was silent but it actually had a kind of clicking noise. That revolutionised the whole business making movies were made for TV, as suddenly you could make movies for TV with equipment half the size.

I remember there was a movie I wanted to make and I had to have one huge scene that was the last victory celebration of the last world war. There was a scene in The Strand and I had to do it. I had to fill the scene and I couldn’t do it, it was a tiny little movie. Someone told me that there is a thing that they’re working on where you can double, tripped, quadruple a crowd and somehow it’s done electronically but they didn’t understand how it worked.

Then I got a job with George Lucas who made a series in the this country called ‘Young Indy’ about the man before he became Harrison Ford. And George was adorable, he said you can cut it, but I will then re-cut it and I will fly you to San Francisco and I’ll show you why I’ve re-cut it, what I’ve done and what I can do. Young Indy was a kind of  flying test-bed for all the stuff they do now. I remember he showed me a shot of a field gun and he said how many do you want, I said ’16′, he said ‘easy’, flicked a switch and there were 16 field guns. We directors were educated in the evolution of the technology right from when I started work with the 16mm sound cameras right the way through to now and it’s a constant evolution, things just don’t stand still.

Are you surprised at where you’ve come to and do you worry about the future?

I worry some times, and I think the other thing that happens is ‘the game’ of making movies which is always a game played with money, one of the things is that these techniques lend themselves to certain subjects and not to other subjects. You always get a comedy made because making people laugh sells tickets, but dramas are very much not a thing of the present. Because a man and woman getting wound up about their relationship in romantic settings is not as interesting as $200m spent on cavalry charges, magic knives and that kind of stuff. And so, the marketplace reacts, they believe badly to drama, well to comedy as it’s a constant, and so it’s changed the game a lot. Everyone moans at the amount of money it costs to make a movie, but it’s kind of expected.

Would you work on another computer game movie in the future?

Guys like me come for the script, the characters, the situation, it’s all of those things, it isn’t a simple ‘find me a video game and I’ll go to work at all’.

Has it changed you or just changed your craft? Is there a Mike Newell before 2005 & after?

I hope there is! I’ve found a film I really want to make now which is about a man murdered in a very dreadful fashion but in a very ordinary pig London. But it’s very shocking and very surprising and doesn’t require any of this technology and at the same time it ought to be something that will make people sit up and get the movie made but it’s very difficult to get that sort of subject made.

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Prince of Persia is released in the UK May 21st. You can see interviews with all the cast on HeyUGuys so stay tuned or check out all our Prince of Persia Coverage here.

A couple of weeks ago London held the world premiere of the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Sir Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and is directed by Mike Newell. We got to interview all the stars and every day this week, we’ll be putting up the interviews. Earlier today, I put up the Jordan Mechner interview, the creator of of the Prince of Persia computer games. You can see the interview here.

Anyway, moving on, this evening sees the LA premiere of the movie which, much like the London premiere will be streamed live. I’ve embedded the stream below which you can watch at your leisure. The premiere is due to begin 6pm PST.

Prince of Persia is released in the UK May 21st. You can see interviews with all the cast on HeyUGuys so stay tuned or check out all our Prince of Persia Coverage here.

Live TV : Ustream

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to interview all the main cast of the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We also got to interview Mike Newell, the Director and Jordan Mechner who invented the original computer game back in 1989 on the Apple 2 computer.

Over the next 5 days, we’ll be bringing you the interviews with Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, and Sir Ben Kingsley but to start us off, let’s find out where the game came from and how it was turned into a movie by it’s creator, Jordan Mechner.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is released in UK cinemas this Friday, 21st May and you can check out my review here.

Many games have converted badly to the big screen in the past. What made you think Prince of Persia would work on the big screen?

I’d be the first to say that not every video game should be a movie but I always thought Prince of Persia would make a good one, since it’s really a game that is inspired by movies. Especially those old fashioned, romantic adventure movies which I think we really set out to make the modern version. To me the final version that we’ve made is like the old swashbuckling movies of the 40s and is just the kind of movie that inspired me to create the original game.

Do you have creative input into the entire movie and is there anything you’d change in the finished movie now that you’ve seen it?

It’s been a long time since the Apple 2 when I had the task of creating everything from the design, the art, the animation, the sound effects to the best of my ability myself. All the of the recent games have been collaborative projects just like the movie. In fact that’s what most exciting to me in the movie, to see the creative process come to life and then to see the final product.

If I had a dagger of time, I would give myself a cameo! I think that was an oversight!

Going back to 1989 when you created the game, what gave you the inspiration?

I think I must have grown up with these ancient tales like A Tail of a Thousand Knights, reading storybooks and I’d always been intruiged by that world and it was until recently until writing the movie and making the game The Sands of Time that I read the Book of Kings.

Have you ever been to Persia?

No, I live in LA!

How did the process begin from game to movie?

I brought the game to Disney & Jerry as a pitch right after the game The Sands of Time was released and I cut together a trailer from bits of the game. I pitched the story which I proposed to write and I think the trailer that I made using clips from the game really helped and gave them a real vision for what the movie could be.

How do you go about writing a game compared to writing a movie?

I approach them both from very different directions. When writing a game, it’s all about the game experience and the game-play. When I created the game, I look at what is the player doing, what skills does he learn, what can a user do with the controller. The game and the movie are very different, but have many similarities. In the game, the Sands of Time are a cataclysm, a form of play that transforms everyone except for the hero and his love interest into monsters because in the game the only way to interact with other characters is to fight with them.

Movies are great for character interactions and when you have a the scope that a producer like Jerry Bruckheimer or a director like Mike Newell can bring, you have the possibility of creating a whole world with cities and towns and a broad canvas and so many different character interactions that would be more difficult to integrate into game play. So I set out to write a new story that was inspired by the Sands of Time but had these tweeks.

Were there tweeks that were in the game that we might see in the movie as nods for gameplayers?

The whole movie is full of little moments that if you played the games you can experience them on a second level but really we were making a movie for a wider audience, for people who hadn’t played games as well as the gamers who had played it.

The dagger of time for example is a button on the console controllers that can turn back time in the game and it was fun to bring that into the movie. In the scene when he’s running over the rooftops and infiltrating the palace, the parkour elements are the cinematic version of the action sequences in the game.

Hundreds of people involved in the production drew from the game in all aspects like the costumes, the weapons and much more. The whole production is infused with the game in many elements, not just the script.

Were you on set for the whole shoot and did you have the opportunity to make changes?

Not all the time but I did visit the set. By the time you get to the set and the sequence needs to be set, it’s past the point where the screenwriter can make changes.

Were you involved in the casting?

I wasn’t but I was thrilled when I heard Jake was going to be Dastan. He looks like the character in the game and more importantly he embodies a humanity that’s as important to the character as his physical warrior aspects.

Jerry Bruckheimer has said that in 10 years, you won’t be able to tell the difference between video games and movies. Do you agree?

Games are becoming more and more like movies, and are approaching the realism of movies using tools like photo-realism. That said, that is one artistic choice and much like animated films you can do an animation that that is ultra-realistic like Avatar but with an animation like Toy Story, that might not be the way you want to go and the same can be true of games. Not every movie will feature fantastic CGI, video game-like action sequences and not every game needs cinematic cuts scenes and dialogue.

Do you play your own games?

The Sands of Time is the last game that I really played all the way through inside and out. These days as much as I love games, I don’t have the time to play 10, 20 or 40 hours to play a game all the way through so for fun I gravitate to more casual games like Beatles Rock band which I’ve been playing recently!

When you did the pitch for Disney, was it important for you to be part of the production team to be protective of your characters and story?

The great thing about working with a producer like Jerry Bruckheimer and on a movie of this scale, it goes so far beyond what I could do on my own on a an Apple 2 with a character that’s 40 pixels high to actually having Jake in the best shape of his life with thousands of people doing parkour on the rooftops. I just love that aspect of seeing something go beyond and go so much bigger!

Where does the name Dastan come from?

Dastan means  ‘trickster’ in Persian.

Are you already writing a sequel?

I’m currently working on a couple of other movie projects but as far as Prince of Persia, we’ve just been focused on this one movie and hopefully people will like it.

Prince of Persia is released in the UK May 21st. You can see interviews with all the cast on HeyUGuys so stay tuned or check out all our Prince of Persia Coverage here.

To welcome in the weekend we’re happy to bring you the latest episode of the HeyUGuys podcast Mouth Off.

This week we pull apart Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and talk about the state of Disney’s live-action arm in the 21st century.
Brad Bird’s acceptance of a Mission: Impossible is also kicked around, as is the J.J. Abrams Super 8 trailer and the news that Kick-Ass team Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman are behind the next X-Men film.

There’s a whiff of politics in the for this week’s Mouth Off Podcast as the Rt. Hons Craig Skinner,  Brendon Connelly and I plunder the mire of politics and dredge up a few choice cinematic cuts from the corridors of power in our Politically themed Ripped from the Crypt.

There are clips from our RFTC choices below, and there’s a nicely eclectic mix for you all this week.

As always do leave your comments and suggestions below, we want to make this podcast as good as it can be so please do get involved.

Click here to subscribe or listen to the Mouth Off feed in iTunes, where you can also find our older episodes.

I hope you enjoy it, do let us know what you want to hear, or if you agree or disagree with us – leave your comments here, or email us on MouthOff@heyuguys.co.uk

Secretary of Altered States Brendon chose Dougal and the Blue Cat*

Minister for Esoteric Affairs Craig Skinner’s pick was America: Democracy on Trial

And I, as Chief Whip, chose House of Cards and Recount

Recount

House of Cards

* sadly Brendon is right – Dougal and the Blue Cat isn’t available on DVD, though there are VHS copies floating around. It’s worth tracking down.

Last week, I attended the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time press conference in a lovely hotel in London. All the stars were there including leading man, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Sir Ben Kingsley, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Mike Newell and the creator of the Prince of Persia computer game franchise, Jordan Mechner.

The lovely people at Disney were kind enough to give me the press conference footage in full and I really wanted to share it with you. I’ve stopped putting up full press conferences as most the time, they’re pretty dull but not this one as Jake Gyllenhaal was on comedy form and had the audience laughing throughout. Since we were so amused, I thought you might be too.

I had to edit it slightly as Sir Ben gave away a spoiler from the movie so the footage is slightly edited in two places. You’ll also get to hear me ask a question. See if you can spot me! We’ll be bringing you interviews with all the cast next week along with my review of the film. You can also see the photos I took at the press conference here and every single piece of Prince of Persia HeyUGuys coverage here.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I give you the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time press conference.

By now, you’ve probably seen my footage, interviews and photos from the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time World Premiere in London on Sunday night. The event was a wonderful spectacle with probably the best show I’ve seen at a London premiere. As well as all the cast being there, they had a wonderful team of parkour experts called 3Run who lit up Westfield Shopping Centre with a stunning performance running up walls, jumping off others, along with amazing martial arts displays. The whole thing was just excellent. I captured the footage on my camera but there was so much going on, we really needed more!

Fortunately Disney were well prepared and had 6 cameras set up to capture both the stars as they arrived and the parkour display. I’ve embedded it below for your viewing pleasure. Keep an eye on all things Prince of Persia in the coming days including our review and interviews with all the cast, director Mike Newell and game creator, Jordan Mechner.

Last night, HeyUGuys were one of the privileged members of the audience of a very special show. I call it a show as the new Westfield shopping centre in London played host to an extravaganza of multiple forms of talent. Not only were the cast of the new Disney Movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time there, they also had a parkour (free-running) team called 3Run who put on a spectacular show.Bear in mind that this was the first premire that was held at Westfield since Iron Man 2 was cancelled a couple of weeks ago due to the Ash Cloud.

The cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arteron, Sir Ben Kinglsey and Reece Ritchie were all there and were accompanied by director Mike Newell, and my hero, Jerry Bruckheimer. You can see my interviews with some of the cast and Jerry in the previous post.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is released in cinemas 21st May and our review will be up in a few days time. In the meantime, check out the photos that I took from the evening. If you’re a Gemma Arterton or Jake Gyllenhaal fan I think you might like them!

Last night, HeyUGuys were invited along to Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd’s Bush, London for the world premiere of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. This is the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie that is set to blow your socks off! Our review is coming up in the next week along with some interviews with all the main members of the cast.

Prince of Persia is directed by Mike Newell and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Reece Ritchie, Richard Coyle, Sir Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and William Foster  as the young Dastan. Pretty much all the cast were there with the exception of Molina and I got to speak to many of them which you can see in this footage. I also got to talk to David Belle, the man who invented Parkour (free running) and he’s also quite a bit of a legend in the parkour community.

During the evening, we were also entertained by 3Run, a Parkour team which put on a spectacular show. I’ve got a second video embedded below with the footage that I got from their display. You can find out more about them at www.3run.co.uk. If you missed it, the entire premiere was recorded and we’ve got the footage which you can watch over and over again right here. They also have the 3Run team being caught on camera from multiple angle so after you’ve watched my footage, click here to view it.

The post following this one will have a massive collection of photos that I took from the evening so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that one.

It’s been an amazing day with the world premiere of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time taking place at the Vue Westfield in London and the cast were out in force to introduce the film to an expectant crowd.

Leading actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton were joined by legendary Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell as the crowds outside the Vue were given a stunning Parkour demonstration before the stars arrived. Sir Ben Kingsley was on hand as was Prince of Persia game designer Jordan Mechner.

As part of our coverage for Prince of Persia we were on the red carpet tonight and our exclusive footage, photos and interviews will be up shortly but to whet your appetite you can see the official photos which have just been released.

If you missed the live stream of the Premiere you can watch the entire show right here.

This afternoon we have a very special treat for you. This week has very much been about one film and that is the new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (all our coverage here with more to come this week). I’m lucky enough to have gotten a spot on the red carpet of the the World premiere of the movie but I know many of you won’t be able to make it down to the new Vue Westfield in London but fear not as we’re bringing the premiere to you! All the stars including Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Sir Ben Kingsley will be there accompanied by director Mike Newell, producer Jerry Bruckeimer and game creator, Jordan Mechner will be there.

Disney will be streaming the event live from the red carpet and it will be shown below. The stream will begin at 17:00 GMT (here’s a timezone converter if you need to work out what time that will be in your country).

So, grab a cup of tea or beverage of your choice, sit back and relax as we bring you the World Premiere of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

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When it comes to being a good sport, you have to give credit to Jake Gyllenhall. He’s currently in the UK to promote his new Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We were lucky enough to meet him this week during  round table interview and you’ll be able to hear that in the coming days.

Jake appeared on Friday with Jonathan Ross a couple of days ago and you have to watch this interview! Jake obviously knows Jonathan and is very much up for a good laugh. Not only do they end up cooking an iPad but end up talking about Viagra, hair extensions and show off some Lego Prince of Persia figures.

I’ve embedded the interview below in two parts. If you’re a fan of Gyllenhaal or you just want a good laugh, this is very much worth a watch.

If you’re looking forward to Prince of Persia, check out HeyUGuys later on today when we’ll be streaming the World Premiere live from Vue Westfield in London. We’ll also be there to bring you photos and exclusive footage from the event.

Robert Downey Jr has had a very up and down (and up again) career, and whilst he has been hugely popular with a large set of fans for the duration, his fall from grace meant that he wasn’t a big box office draw for most of it. This has changed in the last couple of years. His charismatic and comedic performance was a big part of the reason for the first Iron Man’s success, and also contributed to Tropic Thunder’s decent numbers.

Then over Christmas Sherlock Holmes shocked the industry by making a huge amount of money. Holmes isn’t the most exciting of properties, director Guy Ritchie was coming off of a series of flops, and co-star Jude Law could never be considered a big seller (as evidenced by Repo Men). This means that the presence of Downey was the main driving force behind the movie’s financial success. Is he the last of the big box office stars, or does he signal the return of the bankable actor?

 Last year’s box office draws were big licenses, not big stars. Consider the highest grossing movies of 2009. There’s no denying Robert Pattinson is hugely popular with a particular set of fans. But this popularity is down to his association with the Twilight franchise, so the success of New Moon can’t reasonably be attributed to his presence, it is actually the other way around. Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen was the highest grossing film of last year, but this could actually be considered to be despite Shia Labeouf’s appearance rather than because of it. He has his fans, but just as many can’t stand him, and the performance of Jennifer’s Body rules out any influence Megan Fox could be said to have had. The other big grossers, Star Trek, GI Joe and 2012 featured casts that were almost B-list, so their success is surely down to property recognition, marketing and blockbuster appeal. There is no denying money goes to money, and that was certainly the big theme last year.

 Back in the eighties and early nineties, there was a set of actors considered to be superstars. Action heroes like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were paid a huge amount of money, because the movies they starred in did big business at the box office. When these actors went on to try different types of movies, however, their fan bases didn’t follow them. Leading men like Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson were given great power because of their popularity, but they all suffered high profile failures, and the illusion was shattered. It seems clear now that it was the types of movies these actors made, as much as the stars themselves that drew audiences in. The notion of the box office superstar was a fallacy.

 How about the new generation of ‘big names’? Sam Worthington starred in Terminator: Salvation and Avatar last year, both of which drew hundreds of millions of dollars. So were all the people who went to see Clash of the Titans paying to see Worthington? Or the 3D action? Disney’s next big tentpole is Prince of Persia, but lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal, though respected, has never been in financially successful movies, and his last movie Brothers made less than $40M at the worldwide box office. Anyone could have been cast as the star of Prince of Persia, it will make a lot of money regardless.

 The man considered to be the last big bankable star, the actor who could guarantee big box office was Will Smith. But Big Willie was smart. By his own admission, he noticed that the highest grossing movies throughout his childhood were big sci-fi movies, so he followed a formula for his career. Save the world in one big blockbuster movie, then take on a smaller personal part for the next. By alternating like this, he remained a huge star whilst making movies on a regular basis that didn’t take in a huge amount of money. Whilst smaller personal project The Pursuit of Happyness made hundreds of millions, his last dramatic picture Seven Pounds performed disappointingly, and his most personal project of all, his Ali biopic, made a loss.

 This is borne out by Downey himself. Yes, his movies have made a lot of money in the last couple of years, but not his low profile drama The Soloist. His presence wasn’t enough to draw audiences in, and that is clearly proof that even the hottest stars can only sell a movie with a big marketing push to back it up. The other ‘bankable’ star still plying his trade is Johnny Depp. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies were hugely successful, and sold almost singularly on the presence of Depp and his massively popular Jack Sparrow character. This year’s highest grossing movie to date, Alice in Wonderland, also starred Depp. But his appearance in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus didn’t help it make any dent in the pockets of the movie going public.

 The notion of guaranteed box office stars is crumbling. Maybe the bankable box office star NEVER existed, and movie studios have been throwing money away for years on huge pay packets for big name actors. Based on the casting of last year’s hits 2012, Star Trek, GI Joe etc.. Hollywood may actually be beginning to wise up to this. Why pay out $20M plus for a successful actor with a huge ego, when that money can be better spent on additional marketing, the true star of any tentpole movie. There’s no doubting Iron Man II will make a whole lot of money this weekend, and i personally believe the presence of Robert Downey Jr is definitely a factor. I’ve seen the movie, and the performance and sheer presence of Downey elevates the movie. However, i can’t help also feeling that the $100M+ spent on marketing is a bigger factor, and if his paycheck had been instead used on a shoddy post-production 3D conversion, Iron Man 2 would make just as much money. And that is really a very sad thought.

Bazmann – You can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

It’s all gone a bit Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time nuts this week. Pretty much every day, I’ve been involved with the movie with screenings, press conferences, interviews, and now we have live web chats! Later on today (at 17.30 GMT to be exact) we’ll be bringing you a live web chat with the stars of the movie including Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Sir Ben Kingsley. Jerry Bruckheimer, director Mike Newell and game creator, Jordan Mechner will also be here to answer your questions.

And that’s not all. Tomorrow from 17.00 GMT (use the time zone converter here to find out what time that is in your country), we’ll be bringing you the World Premiere of the movie like from London. The link it’s live yet but it’ll be up here tomorrow afternoon.

If you’ve missed any of our coverage of Prince of Persia, you can check it all out here. We’ll be bringing you some interviews in the coming week also so make sure you look out for those. But in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this webchat and make sure you come back tomorrow for the World Premiere red carpet arrivals.

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