• Tagline: Defy the Future
• Director: Mike Newell
• Writer: Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard
• Release Date: 28 May 2010 (USA)
• MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.
• Parents Guide: View content advisory for parents
• Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Romance
• Runtime: 116 min
• Box Office #s: Here
Set in medieval Persia, the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it’s up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time.
From the Gallery
Cast Highlights
• Gemma Arterton … Tamina
• Ben Kingsley … Nizam
• Alfred Molina … Sheik Amar
• Reece Ritchie … Bis
• Toby Kebbell … Seso
Trivia
- Before Jake Gyllenhaal was cast in the leading role, both Orlando Bloom and Zac Efron were rumored for the part.
- Rey-Phillip Santos was replaced by actor Toby Kebbell due to a motorcycle accident on location.
- Screenwriter Robin Morningstar approached the property owner Jordan Mechner with a script based on the original 1989 game of the franchise, the aim being working as a team to get a film made. He and his materials were abruptly exorcised before Disney bought the film rights to the series. The Disney film focuses on the much-later “Sands Of Time” story arc, whilst the game canon seemingly reboots well clear of its origins with a new game titled simply “Prince Of Persia”. Robin Morningstar’s script, much like the original 1989 canon, is out in the cold. (This was referred to briefly during interview in Retro Gamer Magazine Issue 51.)
- Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan turned down the title role, which later went to Jake Gyllenhaal.
- In February 2008, Iranian star Golshifteh Farahani was invited to do a screen test in London along with Gemma Arterton for the role of Tamina but she was arrested at the airport by the Iranian authorities & banned from leaving the country for six months because she had played in Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies (2008)
- This film marks the second PG-13 rated movie under the Walt Disney Pictures label in the United States. The first was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), not counting its film sequels.
- Dastan, the Prince’s name in this movie, means story/”fairytale” in Persian. Usually a dastan conveys values and traditions of generations of people and is rich with cultural history. A Dastan is centered on one individual who protects his tribe or his people from an outside invader/enemy. This main character sets an example of how one should act.
- Asim Ahmad screen tested for the role of Dastan.
- The “Hassansins” are obviously modeled on the famous Islamic mystery cult called the Hashashin from which the word “assassin” is derived given their use of terror and assassinations as political leverage. Their leader was named Hassan Ibn Sabbah. Legends have surrounded the indoctrination process of the members of the Hashashin cult, which are said to involve drugging and mind control.
