Ben Kingsley on the Prince of Persia Set

Defamer has posted a photo of Ben Kingsley on the set of Walt Disney Pictures' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, coming to theaters on May 28, 2010.

In the Mike Newell-directed fantasy adventure based on Ubisoft's popular video game, Jake Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Gemma Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman (Kingsley) from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.Prince of Persia is being produced by powerhouse producer Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire helmer Mike Newell, and written by both Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow) and one of the game's creators, Jordan Mechner. The film was scheduled to start shooting in July in both Morocco and England. Prince of Persia stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina.

Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley Join Prince of Persia!

Finally we're getting some solid casting confirmations for Prince of Persia! A couple of weeks ago we announced that Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton had been cast as the two leads in the film. Confirmed today, both Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley will join the cast as well. Molina will play Sheik Amar, who becomes a mentor to the prince, and Kingsley's role hasn't yet been revealed yet but we can guess that it's probably the Vizier, the main villain in the film. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing and Mike Newell is directing this video game adaptation, with filming slated to begin in July in Morocco and England.

In the fantasy adventure, Jake Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in 6th century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Gemma 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.

I think this is actually great news. I don't necessarily believe that Gyllenhaal is the perfect choice, but I think the addition of Molina and Kingsley means that this could possibly be incredible. Bruckheimer is smart enough to realize that by bringing names like this on, it could really have the potential to break the bad video game movie mold. And both Molina and Kingsley are incredibly strong actors who should bring a definite depth to the film. This is one of the few upcoming blockbusters that I'm genuinely very excited for and interested in and will be following very closely. Is Prince of Persia starting to sound better?

Gyllenhaal and Arterton Cast in Prince of Persia

It's now official - Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton will play Prince and Princess in the upcoming video game adaptation Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. 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. Obviously Arterton's agent is kicking ass, because she's gone from nearly nothing to a big name in both Quantum of Solace and now Prince of Persia! Jerry Bruckheimer is producing and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire's Mike Newell is directing this video game adaptation, with filming slated to begin in June in Morocco and England.

Its obvious that they've tweaked the storyline a bit, changing the names of both the Prince and Princess Farah, but considering Jordan Mechner, one of the game's original creators, has been intricately involved in the development of the script, I'm not at all worried. I've been looking forward to this adaptation since I first heard about it, and now it sounds like Gyllenhaal is going to go down in history as the actor that lead the way in finally showing Hollywood how great video game movies can actually be. Gemma Arterton is also a gorgeous addition, but I can't say much for her acting yet. However, I am intrigued by the choice to use more Americanized actors as opposed to more ethnic alternatives. Thoughts?

You can read on first showing.net, a great update on the status from Jerry Bruckheimer back in early December, who also shares his story of how he was first introduced to the video game and how they plan to be the first to break the bad video game movie mold. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is currently set to arrive in theaters next summer on June 19th, 2009. We'll be sure to bring you more updates as we hear them!