Prince Charming

So the inside sources were right: Jake Gyllenhaal is the new Prince Of Persia.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton will star in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' adaptation of Ubisoft's popular video game. Mike Newell is directing.

In the fantasy adventure, Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard, Jordan Mechner and Boaz Yakin wrote the script, which is based on the many games created by Jordan Mechner.

Bruckheimer is producing, while Mike Stenson, Chad Oman and Patrick McCormick are exec producing.

Production is set to start in July. ...

For those of you, like me, who are unfamiliar with the story, here's a the plot summary from IMDb:

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.

And here is a video rendering.

And some images of the Prince practicing parkour:





So July in Morocco, huh? Shirtless Jake as a dashing Prince? Sounds hot!

(PoP images courtesy of FilmJunk, G4G.)

You can lead Jake to water..

...but you can't make him go in the drink! Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon at the beach in Malibu on Sunday. Reese is appropriately attired in a bikini. Jake is covered up as if he's at the North Pole.

Okay, I exaggerate. But Reese in a bikini and Jake in shorts and a t-shirt, no matter how good he looks, is the reverse order of desired undressedness.


A concerned good Samaritan, seeing how cold Jake is, given the near-freezing Malibu temperatures, donates his blanket to the Keep Jake Covered cause.


Jake stares in wonder at the ocean, but decides he likes it better on the other side and that he'll wait to be back on the East Coast before going for a swim!



Struggling mightily, given the weight of his clothing, Jake valiantly arises and to begins to move out of the oceanic danger zone.



Jake is happier and happier as the ocean recedes, and so do our chances of seeing him out of that t-shirt.





Reese warns him they aren't out of the woods yet, and they look ahead to their seemingly unattainable goal - the waterfree parking lot!






And on and on they walked, dogs afoot and dog doo ahand (at least, I'm guessing that's what Jake is carrying so carefully). Where they stopped, nobody knows.

Okay, enough carping. It's great to see Jake so relaxed. I hope he enjoyed his day in the sun...

But is it wrong to hope that there were other paps on the beach, one of whom might have caught Jake pre-covered state?

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An interesting article in the NY Times about an author who hoped to use independent financing (hedge funds and the like) to get his book made into a movie. Once flush with opportunities, the tide has turned and he's having trouble getting the money.

It's fascinating in the light of Nailed's troubles, but also because the writer imagined Jake starring in it. (It's funny how often authors cite Jake as the person they want to star in their movie adaptations.) One of his managers had to set him straight:

Despite the strong interest — Mr. Sanghoee also had a Canadian investor offering to put in the entire $15 million, with caveats — most investors were reluctant to complete a deal until they saw a cast list, even a tentative one. Mr. Sanghoee toyed with approaching Mr. Gyllenhaal, but Brillstein vetoed the idea.

“Everyone thinks that what they wrote is genius,” said Mr. Khanna, of Brillstein. “I’m here to tell Sanjay that certain things he wants are never going to happen.”

With Mr. Khanna’s help, Mr. Sanghoee hired two casting directors who had worked on movies like “The Good Shepherd” and “Coyote Ugly.” They came up with a list everybody thought was realistic. For the role of the investment banker, they would go after actors like Ryan Phillippe and Matthew Fox, according to a business plan that Brillstein helped develop. Winona Ryder and Claire Danes were possibilities to play the reporter.

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New Jake/Reese picture from the weekend:


(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)

Jake in the zone

The comfort zone, that is. Jake Gyllenhaal is back in L.A., and it's as if he were never away.


Brentwood Country Mart - check
Beverage in plastic container, Jake - check


Hybrid SUV du jour - check


Reese clothing about which Bobbyanna and Agent K will say nothing - check
Beverage in plastic container, Reese - check



Jake on cellphone - check
(Okay, that applies to Jake in any city, at any time.)


Shopping - check
(Apparently, Columbia has no newsstands. Look at the stack of magazines Jake's carrying!)


Perfectly rumpled, prefectly white v-neck tee - check
Phlebotomist's dream arms - check

One thing that IS different is the way those jeans are sliding off Jake's butt. BadGood thing he had a belt on, or we might have gotten some real candids! And Jake isn't wearing his aviators in the later pics, which I think were taken at a different time from the ones with Reese. For some reason, people hate those aviators. I don't mind them.

Oh, and I hear it's very hot in southern California right now. That can mean only one thing. Beach Jake!



Bathing suits don't have belts :)

(Pictures courtesy of IHJ.)

Jake deplanes as Nailed derails?

Looks like Jake Gyllenhaal has arrived back in Los Angeles. I hope that doesn't portend more Nailed troubles.







The latest reports suggested that Nailed filming would resume. So either Jake wasn't needed, or that prediction was too optimistic.

Let's hope Jake enjoys his return - perhaps with a trip to the beach - and goes back to work soon. I want to see this movie some day!



Update: Variety reports that Nailed filming will resume on Monday.

(Photos, gratuitous and fortuitous, courtesy of IHJ.)