"An action hero made in heaven."

Total Film Magazine has a cover story on Prince of Persia, and here are the scans. The magazine interviews Jake Gyllenhaal, director Mike Newell and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. After an amusing opening where the principals all discuss the greatness of the movie - Avatar, that is - they move on to the matter at hand:






The plays focus on the movie's humor. As always, Jake delivers:

How did you convince Jerry Bruckheimer you could do it?
I broke into his office and I threatened him... with a sword.



Jake on Gemma Arterton:

"She could give as good as she got. She stands up for herself, she fights for herself, she's funny and sexy, she can be herself with or without the leading man.





Turns out the director championed Jake for the part:

But there's no getting around it, dropping a $200M franchise on the shoulders of a sleepy-eyed 27 year old who has barely thrown a punch in his career was another massive gamble "

"Yeah it is, But I have known Jake since he was little and I'd seen this quality on screen. He's not John Wayne, who's a massive block of wood. Jake - you can see into him. He has a very soft and gentle side. He's an action hero made in heaven."



i have a feeling the next few months are going to be fun!

(Scans courtesy of ewris.)

"Did you see that?"

Update: Jake at the Lakers/Spurs game on Monday night:













Last photo tweeted by Jeanie Buss, Lakers Executive Vice President:

Jake Gyllenhaal courtside. His new film looks good - Prince of Persia with the long locks.

Looks like someone bought himself a new hat over the weekend :)

After a totally unexpected on-side kick led to a touchdown and turned the Super Bowl around for the New Orleans Saints, the real excitement happened: Disney aired a 30-second spot for Prince of Persia, starring Jake Gyllenhaal:



The ad opened with a beautiful shots of Gemma and then ran through some familiar scenes:








Best part of the ad? "GIVE ME THE DAGGER!"

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Some reviews are in. Television Without Pity gives the ad a thumbs-up:

With this video-game movie, simple seems the best way to go, since its longer trailers have only made this look like a convoluted mess. In only 30 seconds, this trailer got across the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal is in it, he has a knife that turns back time, and the special effects are jaw-dropping. We're in.

The USA Today AdMeter currently ranks the PoP ad 44th (Alice in Wonderland is 31; Shutter Island 37; Robin Hood 39; Wolfman.)

You can vote in a poll on the movie ads at the Star Ledger.

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The cover art for Brothers can be seen on Amazon - and you can pre-order, too! It's odd that they have the date listed as 2008. Yes, that's when we wanted to see it, but we didn't get to!





(First Lakers pic courtesy Getty Images; second, AP.)

New wallpaper, anyone?

Maybe not appropriate for the living room, but Stephanie uploaded a new Prince of Persia/Jake Gyllenhaal wallpaper.



For the big version, click on it from IHJ or the official PoP site, which seems to have gotten a mini-redesign.





It's still maddeningly slow on my old Mac. But they play snippets from the trailer when moving among the site sections. And now the dagger emits an unearthly glow when you click on a new section.

I think they need some more usability testing! And it's good to see something new up there, but they need to add much more.

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And since "No prince would be complete without his horse," McFarlane also has a figure of the Prince of Persia on his steed:

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Finally, some sweet answers from Maggie, from a Q&A in the Guardian:

When were you happiest?
The day after I got married.

What is your earliest memory?
I was tiny, less than three, looking up at my mom, who was pregnant. We were saying, "When is this baby going to come?" about my brother, Jake.

Sunday lunch

Quick post - Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard had lunch at Ammo in Los Angeles on Sunday.

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In more toy news, according to this post on what looks like a dolls forum, someone got a look at a Jake/Prince of Persia doll that Tonner (a doll company) will be making:

Among the dolls Robert shared with us were Torchwood, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Cami & Jon and Prince of Persia. The Jake Gyllenhaal doll in the Prince of Persia collection is most outstanding and of course brought to mind the possibility of a Brokeback Mountain collection...well one can dream.

I think these are different from the McFarlane toys we've seen previously. We'll have to see if there's any more info.

(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)