Maggie Gyllenhaal on Bale's arrest Video

Mechner talks about Prince of Persia

"Prince Of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, who created the series in 1988 after earlier work on the seminal Karateka, is working on a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Disney movie version of the classic PoP franchise.

In this Q&A, Mechner, who owns the rights to Prince Of Persia and has licensed them to Ubisoft for the recent games, discusses the game-film transition, the movie's new director, and some intriguing plot details.

He also touches on the difference between writing for film and writing for games, and what he thought of Ubisoft's XBLA remake of the original PoP.

There’s been buzz about the Prince of Persia movie. Who’s producing? Who’s directing?

Jerry Bruckheimer is producing for Walt Disney Pictures. Mike Newell [Donnie Brasco, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire] is the director.

What’s it like working with Jerry Bruckheimer?

I've only seen the tip of the iceberg, but he is extremely focused, detail-oriented and completely unflappable. Things that most people might consider a crisis -- hurricanes, strikes, whatever -- he handles very calmly and somehow it all works out. I can see why the studios feel confident entrusting him with hundreds of millions of dollars. If he's making the movie, everything's gonna be OK.

Is Ubisoft involved or does your license agreement allow you to do this separately?

They're separate deals. Ubisoft has the videogame rights to Prince of Persia and Disney has the film rights.

How long has the script been in development?

I wrote the first draft and several revisions over a period of about a year and a half. Two more years of development followed, in which additional revisions were done by (in this order): Jeff Nachmanoff, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard.

That sounds like a crazy number of writers, but the original screenplay structure, plot and characters have survived the whole process pretty much intact. Our model is classic epic, swashbuckling action-adventure movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Zorro, and Thief of Baghdad, with humor and romance and full of memorable characters.Will there be a game title that goes along with the movie? Are there any new games in the works separate from the movie?

Sorry, but I can't answer that question!

How close is the movie to starting filming and how does the strike affect it?

The movie is in pre-production. At this moment there's no way to know how long the writers' strike will last, or if the directors' and actors' guilds will strike as well. It's a very insecure time for the whole industry". Source: www.gamasutra.com
"LINKUbisoft Montreal are creating the new-look Prince outing, in which our hero will be gifted a sexy new side-kick, Elika, and a darker aesthetic.

The new action title will be out this festive season on PS3, PC, Xbox 360 and DS.

"I'm very excited about the new game. I'm glad they're taking it in a different direction," Mechner told Comic Con in San Diego. "I think it's absolutely beautiful. It's got that romantic, beautiful feel which I think is more true to the spirit of Prince of Persia. It's very ambitious, it's spectacular, and it's awesome. I like it."

The veteran had previously knocked PoP: The Warrior Within, a release he was not involved with though Mechner seems far more optimistic about the next game, encouragingly: "I'd rather focus on the positive, and hope the new game is going to be the best one," he enthused. Source: play.tm

"Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner appeared at San Diego Comic-Con today where he chatted about his upcoming Prince of Persia graphic novel as well as Disney's in-development movie adaptation of his bestselling videogame.

While the movie is based on the Sands of Time game, Mechner said his script does not literally follow beat to beat the storyline of the game. He added that he does not expect any potential film sequels to be based on the subsequent games Warrior Within and The Two Thrones since they took the game's storyline in a different direction. Nothing from either of those games, including characters, will be in the current movie.

Mechner said that adapting an interactive experience into a non-interactive one means reconceiving the story. The challenge of the script was in writing an entirely new story than the game even if it has the same meaning, plot elements, and characters as the game. The movie has to be different because it is engineered to be played while the film is a spectator experience. Mechner wants the viewer to be taken on an emotional journey and to care about the characters so that way it's not all just about fighting monsters and action set-pieces.Unlike his game counterpart, the title character in the movie to be played by Jake Gyllenhaal will have a name. Mechner said that he chose the name "Dastan" for the prince because he believes its an old Persian name that means "trickster."

So are all the princes of Persia from the various incarnations the same character or different men? That's the idea that Mechner wants to explore in the graphic novel. The comic is set in both the 9th century and 13th centuries with a storyline that interweaves past and future. There is more than one potential prince in each storyline but it involves many of the same things as the games did and has lots of roots in Persian myths and legends. He said that the ancient Persian Book of Kings, the Shahnameh, was his inspiration for both the comic and the videogame.

The official site for the Prince of Persia graphic novel can be found HERE.

Source: movies.ign.com

Cracking jokes

"So, you're in a happily committed relationship, right? And you're certain that your girlfriend is really into you, right?

Or maybe-just maybe-you're not that certain. Luckily, you can tell a lot about a girl by her movie star crushes. "My girlfriend doesn't have one of those," you might be saying. Uh huh. Just for fun, go take a look through her DVD collection. Do you notice how there are eight films starring James Spader? Connect the dots, dude.

Below, we've provided a handy list of Hollywood studs; why your lady fantasizing about them is a blessing in disguise; and why it might not be, either.Jake Gyllenhaal and/or Heath Ledger Why It Bodes Well: They starred in Brokeback Mountain, which pretty much makes them gay, doesn't it?

Why You're Screwed: Whoops. Nope, it doesn't make them gay at all. It just makes you insensitive and homophobic for thinking it. And now you're probably going to have to make out with some dude just to prove that you're not. On a happier note, this can now be your excuse if your girlfriend catches you making out with some dude". Source: www.cracked.comREESE WITHERSPOON
People' Scoop: "Broad and high forehead signifies imagination and creativity. Brows with little arch are typical of a person who thinks things through before acting." (p. 82)
The Ugly Truth: Less typical of a person who thinks things through before acting: getting knocked up by Ryan Phillippe.
JAKE GYLLENHAAL
People' Scoop: "M-shaped hairline means he' attractive to women. Thick eyebrows with little arch is a sign of energy and passion. Narrow jaw means he thinks for himself instead of relying on others' ideas and opinions." (p. 84)
The Ugly Truth: Boyish smile means he will not hesitate to make sweet, sweet love to your girlfriend while she's in LA for a bachelorette party. Source: www.cracked.com

"The Brothers Bloom" Trailer

"Two years ago, right before the big summer movie onslaught, a small movie from America made the most of a momentary lull in the release schedules. That film was Rian Johnson's Brick, a film noir set in a San Clemente high school that ingeniously turned genre convention on its head. In place of a Sam Spade-style private eye there was a loner called Brendan (played by the underrated Joseph Gordon-Levitt) on the trail of his dead girlfriend's killer or killers, and the femme fatale was a cheerleader with brains, working from a razor-sharp script peppered with rich slang that had to be explained to US cinemagoers before they went in. Followers of Johnson's career will know that this film is The Brothers Bloom, a conman movie-slash-road movie travelling to every corner of the globe, in which the titular brothers – Stephen and Bloom – roam the world carrying out the most elaborate heists, using actors, props and intricate plots crafted by the eldest (Stephen). And though that sounds ominously close to every director's sophomore effort – ever noticed how second movies by Americans focus on travel, cultural differences and hotels? (Pulp Fiction ticks some of those boxes, but Lost In Translation is the daddy) – Johnson's is actually a more ambitious affair, in which the scenery, paradoxically, is almost incidental to the story. And, when you have a cast that includes Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Babel's Rinko Kikuchi, there's plenty to keep you focused on that.The second time round, I saw it more for what it is: it's a love story. It's also a story about stories, and both these things are laid out in the prologue of the movie, in which magician Ricky Jay, in rhyming couplets, explains how the orphaned brothers became practitioners of their art: as children, Stephen (Ruffalo) would invent elaborate plans that made them a bit of ready cash but, more importantly, would allow the introverted Bloom (Brody) to make friends. After the credits, the film takes us to the present day (well, sort of). The brothers have just pulled off one of their labyrinthine cons, and there's a swinging party in Berlin
(look out for a very cool string of Brick cameos, including an unrecognisable Dode and the film's clearly terrified producer,
Ram Bergman). It should be a time for celebration, but Bloom is down and wants out – again. Because it seems there's a cycle here, but when Stephen does his usual pep talk, the old magic isn't there any more: Bloom really does want out this time. So Stephen strikes a deal. They'll do one last con, taking on a batty New Jersey millionairess named Penelope (Weisz) and drawing her into a fake world of smugglers, where the goal is to steal a priceless book from a hidden chamber in Prague. As Stephen puts it, “The best con is when everybody gets what they want.” And on this adventure, Bloom gets the girl, the girl gets a life and Stephen gets the money.

To say too much about this film – and, to be honest, the trailer gives quite a lot away already – would be to rob it of its surprises. It's a film that draws you in, and in a funny way it's quite challenging. Just as Brick dared you to get involved in its world of hipster jargon and cool-school cliques, so The Brothers Bloom makes no bones about its eccentricities: the boys in their Popeye Doyle hats, the sudden appearance of a real-life Fagin, and, best of all, the gorgeous Kikuchi as Bang-Bang, the brothers' mute, explosives-obsessed sidekick. Kikuchi seems to have walked straight out of a lost '60s pop-art bubblegum classic, and her presence is likely to divide audiences in the way Brick's patois did. But even if such flourishes seem overly stylised, the film has a card up its sleeve, figuratively and literally. As effortlessly as it seems to be unfurling, The Brothers Bloom is actually exerting a strange influence on the viewer, and at a crucial point in Mexico it becomes clear that these aren't cartoon characters at all but flesh-and-blood humans caught up in their own fakery, never knowing whether the con starts and real life ends, or vice versa.

The version I saw still had some rough edges that Johnson has since ironed out, so it'll be interesting to see the finished version, although I was sad to hear that the dancing dwarf has hit the cutting-room floor. Nevertheless, it was a pretty complete cut, and what struck me as I left the screening was how much I'd enjoyed spending time with this odd quartet, and how soon I'd want to to back to their world. And here I must make special mention of the film's wonderful score, again by Nathan Johnson, the director's talented cousin. The main themes really draw out the flavour of a film that, though it's about artifice and deception, never feels manipulative or calculating.

There's no word yet on a UK distributor, but my spider senses tell me that audiences here may get a glimpse before Christmas (it's out October 24 in the US). Source: www.empireonline.com

"Right smack in the middle of Comic-Con, Summit has decided to release the first trailer for Rian Johnson's second film - The Brothers Bloom".
Source: www.firshowing.net

"Hot Love" Video

New affiliate: Jake Gyllenhaal Fan

We have a honour here in Weirdland becoming an affiliate with this amazing site devouted to our Jakey G: Jake Gyllenhaal Fan, thank you, Luciana!
Jake Weird is on affiliates in Male Actors category.I love to keep adding my humble contribution to the Jake's web family, because Jake will continue to be the most gorgeous actor in the world.

Bale in Heathrow Airport

"Finishing up his Dark Knight publicity tour of Europe, Christian Bale was spotted with his daughter Emmeline flying out of London’s Heathrow International Airport earlier today (July 25).

The Batman stud sported a black t-shirt, cargo pants, and a pair of black Adidas sneakers as he boarded the plane with his little one, headed for Tokyo, Japan.
As previously reported by Gossip Girls, Bale ran into some legal trouble earlier this week when his mother and sister reported to London police that he had assaulted them in the Dorchester Hotel". Source: www.celebrity-gossip.net