ROTTEN TOMATOES: Mike Newell to Direct Prince of Persia?

Mike Newell to Direct Prince of Persia?

Harry Potter director is Bruckheimer's man.

by Jeff Giles | November 08, 2007

You may have heard that all this nasty "Hollywood strike" business had put the long-discussed Prince of Persia film adaptation on the back burner, but Variety is here to set the record straight.

What, you thought a little labor unrest was going to stop Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer from doing whatever they want? According to Variety's report, development on the Persia film continues; in fact, the studio and producer have offered Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Love in the Time of Cholera) the director's chair.

Nothing's definite yet -- the article says "negotiations are expected to begin shortly" -- but there's a script from Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Jordan Mechner waiting to be filmed, and Newell knows how to make a big-budget picture, so something tells us the dotted lines will be signed soon enough.

Source: Variety

Related Items

Movie:	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
	Love in the Time of Cholera
Celeb:	Mike Newell
	Jerry Bruckheimer
	Jeffrey Nachmanoff

(1-20 of 26 posts) | Reply

Mr. Kong writes:
on Nov 08 2007 06:32 AM

This could be interesting.

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jeremyd4 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 06:56 AM

Great news! Been wanting this movie for ages. Would have rathered a more competent director though, as Newell's job with Harry P was pretty sloppy.

They should get Sendhil Ramamurthy ("Mohinder Suresh" from Heroes) to play the Prince - he has the right look and his voice is almost exactly like that heard in the games.

Another great pick for the role would be Oded Fehr from The Mummy, who also played Carlos in the Resident Evil series. For these reasons he'd be better at the action scenes and has clearly got more movie experience. He stood out in The Mummy I think, has a "cool" vibe to him. He just needs to be given something better than the RE series and a more starring role.

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Vicens17 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 06:57 AM

They have certainly caught my attention.

But a Michael Bay PoP film would have been interesting as well. He probably would have hired the beautiful Megan Fox to play Kilina(or whatever her name was).

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Ender7406 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 07:07 AM

Good call on Ramamurthy. This looks to be exciting.

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Young Turk writes:
on Nov 08 2007 07:18 AM

AWESOME!

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rgallitan writes:
on Nov 08 2007 07:29 AM

I know opinions vary widely here, and I don't mean to slight Alfonso Cuaron, but Potter 4 is actually my favorite of the series so far. It was the sweetest and most humanly funny, which is exactly the quality that makes The Sands of Time so much better than its sequels. So I think this announcement means Jordan Mechner is actively working to make sure we get the good stuff, and not the grr, arg, "I smolder with generic rage" prince.

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Warheart1188 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 07:55 AM

I'm not so sure about Mike Newell. I didn't like his take on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and I don't think an English director should make PoP. I would probably rather see Michael Bay(as much as I do not like his directing) take the reigns for directing PoP. And for me, that's something I do not want to happen but it's something I'd seddle for rather than Newell's take. But,I'm still interested in what he could do. Who knows? Newell might make it work.

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Ace69 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 08:38 AM

hey Mike Newell is better than the previous rumor of Michael Bay i mean i like the mindless action of his movies but for this one it would t be needed

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Ace69 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 08:40 AM

hey Mike Newell is better than the previous rumor of Michael Bay i mean i like the mindless action of his movies but for this one it would t be needed.... but then again now that you said he did Goblet of fire i didnt like his take on it either but i still dont think Bay would be a good fit for this movie any ways hes not gonna make it he's too busy designing an aircraft carrier transformer lolz

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Heath H. writes:
on Nov 08 2007 08:59 AM

Mike Newell is great news! But a video game adaptation? OHHHH NOOOOO... I have yet to see a truly good video-game to film adaptation.

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BlueMobius writes:
on Nov 08 2007 09:24 AM

I'm torn on Newell as well but I really couldn't handle a Michael Bay take on this. The guy is a fine director for a certain type of film but his tendency to use shakey cam would ruin the effects in PoP. The key to filming the Prince is using CGI effectively to create the acrobatics (as no human can pull of EVERYTHING the Prince does). With that said, I'd like to see a director who is either very good with CGI (del Torro comes to mind) or VERY good with wire effects (lending more realism to the acrobatics). Honestly, why can't they pursue an Asian director rather than an English director? Harry Potter needed a certain look and feel that English directors can bring to it but PoP takes place in Persia--modern day Iran--which, uh, is in Asia. And yes, I know del Torro isn't Asian but I like his work with digital effects.

Ugh...I'm rambling which isn't like me. Thoughts?

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rgallitan writes:
on Nov 08 2007 10:46 AM

BlueMobius, remember that this is an adventure story, not an action romp. What is more important is a director who can capture the personality of the story and the characters (neither of which is very Persian, to be honest - it's better to think of this as fantasy and ignore historical accuracy). What you want is a good visual effects supervisor and a good stunt coordinator. I assure you, with talented people in those positions, Woody Allen could direct fantastic wire-work.

"The key to filming the Prince is using CGI effectively to create the acrobatics (as no human can pull of EVERYTHING the Prince does)"

Clearly you haven't been to Cirque de Soleil. :)

Seriously, while the Prince's capabilities may stretch a little beyond human reality, I think a lot of that can simply be attributed to the video game medium. Virtually all game characters - even those meant to be normal humans - can jump farther, fall harder, and hold on longer than a real person ever could. It's a sacrifice made to enhance playability. But look at Tomb Raider (to which the modern Prince of Persia games owe virtually everything they don't already owe to Ico). Lara Croft is capable of doing almost anything the Prince can, and a few things he can't, yet her big screen counterpart wasn't anymore superhuman than any other action hero. You can't take gameplay gimmicks too far outside of the game itself. And you have to remember that Prince of Persia is about the characters, not the stunts - at least it better be, if it's going to be a watchable movie.

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stevegilpin writes:
on Nov 08 2007 10:53 AM

You have got to be kidding me.
I really like the video game, but I simply have no interest in seeing a Prince of Persia movie. It's just a dumb idea. Anybody who disagrees, feel free to respond and I'll try to explain to you (verrrrryyyyy slowllllyyyyy) why you're wrong.

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Rockslide writes:
on Nov 08 2007 11:15 AM

Sendhil Ramamurthy, yes PERFECT. Let's get enough people to say so and he might have a chance.

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Vortex&Vertigo writes:
on Nov 08 2007 11:52 AM

I only have one thing to say. Parkour.

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Crusader07 writes:
on Nov 08 2007 12:48 PM

In reply to this comment (#1262617)
Yes. Absolutely. They can do a lot with parkour and the set pieces.

I'm just glad that Michael Bay isn't involved.

(Reply to this)

hewpot writes:
on Nov 08 2007 12:55 PM

wasnt bay attached to this?

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rgallitan writes:
on Nov 08 2007 01:04 PM

In reply to this comment (#1262838)
I'm not sure he ever officially was, in any capacity. That's just been the rampant fan speculation because he's all buddy-buddy with Bruckheimer, or something.

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stg writes:
on Nov 08 2007 01:04 PM

thank god for some common sense still prevailing in hollywood, any director is better then michael"stupid one-liners" Bay. And is Newell getting good reviews for his cholera movie. The guy is a major improvement over bay who would have ruined one my most beloved games ever. All the previous video game adaptations sucked Heath Huxell cause nobody gave a damn about staying true to the game's root and storyline. The script of POP is penned by Jordan Mechner the creater of the game, this seems destined to be the first good video game to movie adaptation.

(Reply to this)

zgberg writes:
on Nov 08 2007 02:06 PM

Actually, a film about a prince saving a princess in Persia sounds interesting, without the context of the video game. How many action films with ancient Persia are there?

(Reply to this)

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