Just another WordPress weblog

Studio Cut


“Prince of Persia” grosses P60.8-M in 4 days 0

Posted on May 31, 2010 by kankan
MANILA, May 31, 2010 — Walt Disney Pictures’ fantasy adventure “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” royally opened at No. 1 in thePhilippines, amassing a majestic P60.8-million nationwide gross for the May 27-30 weekend frame.  This was announced today by Victor R. Cabrera, managing director of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Philippines, the film’s local distributor.
The Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer posted Disney’s all-time third-biggest opening weekend, only bested by 2007’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (P71-M) and 2006’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (P66-M).
The new Jerry Bruckheimer production also established the year’s second-highest debut weekend, beating the openings of recent blockbusters “Shrek Forever After” (P56.9-M), “Alice in Wonderland” (P47.9-M) and “Clash of the Titans” (P47.5-M).
The Top 20 cinemas that garnered the biggest receipts are SM Mall of Asia (P3.69-M), Trinoma (P3.24-M), SM North EDSA (P2.40-M), SM Megamall (P2.26-M), Glorietta 4 (P2.18-M), SM Cebu (P2.17-M), Power Plant (P1.86-M), Greenbelt 3 (P1.74-M), Alabang Town Center (P1.67-M) and Gateway (P1.61-M).
They’re followed by Shang Cineplex (P1.56-M), Eastwood (P1.48-M), Greenhills (P1.39-M), Ayala Cebu (P1.34-M), Robinsons Ermita (P1.19-M), Festival Mall (P1.18-M), Robinsons Galleria (P1.12-M), Market! Market! (P981,127), Gaisano Davao (P950,637) and Sta. Lucia East (P861,500).
From the team that brought the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy to the big screen, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” an epic action-adventure set in the mystical lands of Persia.
In the film, a rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal)) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Gemma Arterton) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.
Directed by Mike Newell (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) with a cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina, “Prince of Persia” is written by Boaz Yakin and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Jordan Mechner.
Still showing across the Philippines on Digital 2D and regular format, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

pop01

MANILA, May 31, 2010 — Walt Disney Pictures’ fantasy adventure “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” royally opened at No. 1 in thePhilippines, amassing a majestic P60.8-million nationwide gross for the May 27-30 weekend frame.  This was announced today by Victor R. Cabrera, managing director of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Philippines, the film’s local distributor.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category movies

Parkour creator trains Gyllenhaal for “Prince of Persia” 0

Posted on May 17, 2010 by kankan
In order for Disney’s “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” to showcase the fantastic parkour displays of gravity- and death-defying leaps and acrobatics that Jake Gyllenhaal’s character performs, the filmmaker went to the originator of parkour himself – the young legend David Belle.
“We decided to go right to the source,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer. “We wanted the best of the best, and that’s David Belle.”
”This is the kind of film that makes me wish I was in the movie industry,” says Belle. “When you watch this type of movie, it’s so magnificent that you want to be a part of the scene. And all of a sudden, I find that I am. It’s like a child’s dream come true.”
“In the film, Prince Dastan can run up walls and has other skills which are based on parkour,” explains director Mike Newell. “Parkour started in the suburbs of Paris, where the kids were so bored that they started to use what was available to them as some kind of test. I watched documentaries about them and saw that they really do walk up walls and leap from rooftop to rooftop. They are extraordinary athletes. So we brought David to teach us what to do and how to make it look good.”
In French, parkour is also known as l’art du déplacement, or the art of movement. And indeed, to its practitioners and those who observe the astounding feats of traceurs—practitioners of parkour—it is nothing less than wondrous. The action of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” incorporates both parkour and its offshoot, free running.
Says Bruckheimer, “It’s really an art form. It’s so exciting to watch people literally bouncing off of walls, all done without wires, doing it through their own physical force.”
Belle’s own description of parkour is, as one would imagine coming from the man responsible for its present form, perfectly concise and lucid. “To make it simple, parkour is a training method that allows a person to develop their physique so that they can overcome obstacles. The more you train, the faster and more efficient you become. When training, you can create a wide range of movements. These movements help you to get through difficult passageways, between buildings and over rooftops. It’s a different way to learn to move your body.”
Belle was impressed by Jake Gyllenhaal’s parkour abilities and the enthusiasm with which the actor quite literally threw himself into the action. “Jake certainly had me convinced,” he says. “I’ve seen his work, his movements in various scenes, and I have no doubt.”
Gyllenhaal’s physical preparation began several weeks before the cameras rolled, but he was already in prime physical condition as an avid runner, cyclist and all-around athlete.
“There’s no reason to do a movie like this if you can’t do the stunts,” says Gyllenhaal. “It was all about functional fitness, being able to do everything that was asked of me. So I got into the best shape I could, with a whole lot of running, parkour training, weight-lifting and horseback-riding.”
Opening across the Philippines on Thursday, May 27, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

princeofpersia_parkour01

In order for Disney’s “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” to showcase the fantastic parkour displays of gravity- and death-defying leaps and acrobatics that Jake Gyllenhaal’s character performs, the filmmaker went to the originator of parkour himself – the young legend David Belle.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category movies

Bruckheimer brings adventure back with “Prince of Persia” 0

Posted on May 11, 2010 by kankan
“We love bringing audiences into new worlds they haven’t yet explored,” says legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “and ancient Persia is one of the most wonderful of them all. It has such a rich heritage of imagination and fantasy, and we’ve tried to honor that in our new epic adventure ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.’”
He adds, “We tackle epic films, from ‘Armageddon’ to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ and ‘Prince of Persia’ falls right in line with those kinds of movies. It’s got enormous imagination, enormous scope and phenomenal action.”
In the film, a rogue prince named Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.
Jordan Mechner created his seminal “Prince of Persia” video game in 1989. “I was looking for a universe that hadn’t yet been done in video games,” says Mechner.  “The early days of video games were like the early days of cinema. We looked to previously established genres, like sword-and-sorcery and science fiction, to find things that would work in this new medium.”
Adds director Mike Newell: “I love the idea of it being a living myth that you are watching.  This is a story that’s absolutely real and extraordinary—a non-rational, non-physical universe as we now understand it.  These things happen in this film.”
Says Bruckheimer of Newell, “Mike can do just about any kind of movie, from ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ which is a dramatic comedy, to ‘Donnie Brasco,’ a hard-edged, gritty street movie. And then he goes and does ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,’ which had just the right blend of adventure and mystical fantasy that we were looking for. Mike has a really wonderful palette that he paints from, and that’s very important to us. We want an entertaining film that appeals to a broad audience, but also something special, that concentrates on character and story.”
According to Gyllenhaal, the filmmakers had an interesting perspective about the film’s fantasy backdrop.  “It was Mike Newell and Jerry Bruckheimer’s initial and brilliant idea that this film be based in reality. Mike said, ‘I want this movie to be based in the mentality  of sixth-century Persia, where they believed in fantasy becoming reality,  that you could find a dagger that could  turn back time and have no doubt in the possibility of that happening because that’s what they would  have believed back then.’”
“The more exquisite, the more dark, the more agonized, the more true to our fallible human natures a film can be—that’s a good Brit picture,” says Newell. “But lately, I’ve been really interested in great, big entertainment—‘Prince of Persia’ is exactly that—great, big entertainment—and I’m very pleased to have it.”
Opening soon across the Philippines, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

princepersia01

“We love bringing audiences into new worlds they haven’t yet explored,” says legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “and ancient Persia is one of the most wonderful of them all. It has such a rich heritage of imagination and fantasy, and we’ve tried to honor that in our new epic adventure ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.’”

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category movies

Jake Gyllenhaal tackles first action-hero role in “Prince of Persia” 0

Posted on May 04, 2010 by kankan
Primarily known for memorable dramatic roles, Jake Gyllenhaal now embarks on his first action-adventure film with Walt Disney Pictures’ “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”  Inspired by the best-selling video game series, the movie is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and the same team behind the blockbuster franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean .”
Jake’s role as Dastan, the Prince of Persia, is one of his most high-profile to date. He is seen by many fans of the game as a curious choice for the part. He takes the lead in this potential blockbuster and admits he trained hard for the wealth of heavy action sequences the movie contains.
Q: What attracted you to this movie and the part of Prince Dastan?
Jake Gyllenhaal: On a personal front, it was something that was so unlikely to find myself doing. It was unlike anything I’d ever played. But when I talked to director Mike Newell about it, it wasn’t just a video game adaptation. It was a massive epic that he had in the works. They had a real classic story, that was emotional and real, and it was filled with massive turns and twists. Every day during filming you must keep in your mind where you are, how you got there and who fooled who. It is like a “Usual Suspects” and that makes it intriguing to me. Also, if these movies are going to get done, they should be done by the best and Jerry Bruckheimer is the one to make them!
Q: Can you talk us through how you prepared for the physical nature of the role?
Gyllenhaal: I did a lot of training, a lot of running, working out and different types of sports. I am someone who doesn’t love to be inside so I enjoyed being outdoors. I was training like I was going into battle. As from the video game Dastan has to be very agile. It is not just like “Gladiator”-style fighting although we have all of that. It is also about being able to jump over walls and climb up and run on them. I simulated that as much as I could in training.
Q: How much of the stunt work and Parkour have you been able to do yourself?
Gyllenhaal: I worked in LA for a few weeks with a Parkour guy. Surprisingly, a lot of what they taught me just started to come easily. There is a lot of hanging, and learning how to move your body in the right way. It is all about the landing. But if there is one thing I’ve learned on this movie, it’s if someone asks you to do something, you’ve just got to try it.  If you don’t try, you’ll regret it for the rest of your time. This movie affords you the opportunity to do a lot of crazy things that you wouldn’t normally be able to.
Q: Had you played the Prince of Persia games before and did you feel a sense of responsibility bringing the iconic character of the Prince to life?
Gyllenhaal: I have played a lot of real people in my films and there is equal pressure there. When I was young, I played the game a lot. But what was important for me was to bring some realism into this world that was not fully based on reality. I feel a responsibility because the Prince in the video games has a personality. He has a story but you don’t really know it. As an actor, you get to put the expression on that character and get to make a new path for what the character is, rather than being nervous you will screw up what was there.
Q: What was the most fun part of making a movie like this?
Gyllenhaal: When you are a kid, you play like this and go outside with your friends and play fight. We are doing this every day. The best for me is I’ve never done a lot of sword fighting, hand-on-hand and combat. But we also get humor and performance in the middle of it all. I find that so difficult. I have utter respect for those who can put that type of feeling into the role while battering someone. It is like chewing gum and walking at the same time! It is really tough for actors.
Q: How have you found working with director Mike Newell?
Gyllenhaal: It is great working with Mike. There is such an unlikely cast of characters in this movie which is so great. No-one is out to prove anything; everyone is out to discover something. That is the difference between this movie and so many other movies like it. As for Mike, this is the guy who directed “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and he’s done “Harry Potter” as well, it’s great. Every day is bigger, faster and funnier – not in a laughable way – but we always find the reality of a situation through him.
Q: Assuming the first is a success, are you looking forward to the prospect of shooting one or two more Prince of Persia sequels?
Gyllenhaal: Yes, after doing this it will be hard to go back to smaller characters. There’s a type of high when you make a movie like this. Every day is infectious, there are days when you get tired, but even on my Sundays off I worked out twice as that was where my head was. I am prepared for whatever comes my way.
(Opening soon across the Philippines , “Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.)

prince_jake02

Primarily known for memorable dramatic roles, Jake Gyllenhaal now embarks on his first action-adventure film with Walt Disney Pictures’ “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”  Inspired by the best-selling video game series, the movie is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and the same team behind the blockbuster franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean .”

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category movies

Gemma Arterton, from “Clash of the Titans” to “Prince of Persia” 0

Posted on April 28, 2010 by kankan
Rising star Gemma Arterton is the first to admit she has come a long way in such a short space of time. Before appearing in the recent box-office smash “Clash of the Titans” opposite Sam Worthington, she played a Bond girl in the latest 007 movie “Quantum of Solace.”  Now, she stars in Walt Disney Pictures’ “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” where she plays Tamina, a high priestess who teams up with Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) to save the mystical Dagger of Time which has the ability to turn back the clock.  But with plenty of interested parties desperate to get their hands on it, the pair must battle against the odds to work out exactly who they can trust during this quest full of twists, turns and epic adventure.
In the following interview, Arteron talks about the film inspired by the best-selling video game series, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and the team behind the blockbuster franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean .”
Q: How does Tamina differ to your past roles?
Gemma Arterton: My past roles didn’t really have any action. In this I have a lot of action. But Tamina is a High Priestess, so she is not your typical gun-wielding character. She’s very spiritual so it’s an interesting take to have someone’s action set against her religious beliefs.
Q: Tell us about the relationship between your character and Jake’s?
Arterton: Tamina is the Princess of Alamut, a city that the Persians invade and I’m kind of kidnapped.  She’s very spiritual so she just dislikes them. Jake’s character and mine have this real love/hate relationship. Obviously they fancy each other but they don’t show it. They join forces and find out more information about the bad things that are happening in Persia and so they learn from each other. The film is a journey for them both. She is his right-hand girl. It’s not just an action/adventure, it’s not just a romance, it’s not just this or that, there is lots of drama and it takes you in different directions all the time.
Q: What have you enjoyed most about filming “Prince of Persia ”?
Arterton: I love all the action stuff. I think I should have really been a stunt woman. I really enjoy it even if sometimes you think, ‘Oh my god, there are people that are trained to do this and to get battered and bruised’. But I’ve loved doing the fighting. There isn’t a particular style to mine because it’s quite wild. She’s never been trained to fight. It’s just me going ‘Aaarrrggghhh’. Where I went to drama school, I trained in stage combat quite heavily so I had a bit of experience before. It is gobsmacking seeing the sets and the costumes and the sheer scale of this film. You are put into this completely different world and that is really, really fantastic because you don’t have to imagine much because it is there right in front of you.
Q: Were there any particular skills you needed to learn for this film?
Arterton: I had to learn how to horse ride as I’d never done it before in my life and it’s kind of become a real new passion for me. Pretty much the whole cast went to Spain and learned to ride for two weeks, which was an incredible opportunity to have.
Q: Has it been inspiring or intimidating to work with so many experienced actors such as Sir Ben Kingsley and Jake Gyllenhaal?
Arterton: It is absolutely inspiring. I tend to go into things head first and not really think about what I am doing, which is sometimes better than going, ‘Oh my god, I’m just about to act with Sir Ben Kingsley!’ Then you are yourself and that’s what they want ultimately anyway. You’re just another actor working with them on a film. It’s brilliant but I don’t think I get too worried about it. I probably should, when I’m being all cheeky and scampy with Sir Ben Kingsley, but no, it’s brilliant and an honor.
Q: Your career has moved very fast in such a short time – how have you found that?
Arterton: Since the Bond film came out, everything has happened very quickly, I’m really starting to feel it. Usually I can get on with my work and not think about it but it’s actually had an effect on my life now. Hey, why not? If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. It is mad what has happened in a year. In a year I think I’ve done eight films. I don’t know how I’ve done it.
(Opening soon across the Philippines , “Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.)

gemma01

Rising star Gemma Arterton is the first to admit she has come a long way in such a short space of time. Before appearing in the recent box-office smash “Clash of the Titans” opposite Sam Worthington, she played a Bond girl in the latest 007 movie “Quantum of Solace.”  Now, she stars in Walt Disney Pictures’ “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” where she plays Tamina, a high priestess who teams up with Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) to save the mystical Dagger of Time which has the ability to turn back the clock.  But with plenty of interested parties desperate to get their hands on it, the pair must battle against the odds to work out exactly who they can trust during this quest full of twists, turns and epic adventure.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category movies

“Harry Potter” director now helms “Prince of Persia” 0

Posted on April 22, 2010 by kankan
Since he already has “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” to his credit, director Mike Newell knows all about making blockbusters. But even he admits to being impressed by the scale of his latest film, Walt Disney Pictures’ “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.” “There are days I arrive for work and look around me and just think ‘Wow!’” says the British-born director.  “We had one location where we borrowed half a village and added to it with colossal structures: palaces, public buildings, squares, gardens and secret passageways. It had four sides and the actors galloped around it on horses.”
Inspired by the popular video game of the same name, “Prince of Persia” stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan, a rebellious young prince who’s suddenly caught up in a life and death struggle to prevent assorted villains from stealing the Dagger of Time, an ancient and sacred artifact that can reverse history.
Mike Newell talked about the challenges of making the film in the following interview:
Q: What made you decide to be a part of this film?
Mike Newell: I liked the story. It’s a classic tale of someone having their world turned upside down by extraordinary circumstances and having to use all their resources to come out the other side. I also loved the idea of going to a place I had never been before. We had the freedom to create this whole amazing world because no one knows exactly what it looked like. The time period is also one when people took stories very seriously, and there wasn’t a division between what was a fable and what was real. To me the story of the film feels like one of the great myths: something that’s quite simple in a way, but bites very deep and you remember it life-long.
Q: The character of Dastan seems to have been influenced by Indiana Jones…
Newell: Dastan is very athletic and irreverent, which is definitely like Indiana Jones, but my own influences were great stories like “Kidnapped” and “Treasure Island” that I read as a child. I loved that you never stepped outside of those stories, that you never for a minute doubted that there really was buried treasure, a desert island and a sailor with a wooden leg,
Q: Was Jake Gyllenhaal your first choice to play Dastan and what was it about him that got him the part?
Newell: You had to have someone of a certain age. He had to have a command of the screen, which Jake obviously does and is partly what makes Jake a very interesting actor. I looked around and Jake was the first name that came into my head. And though I did meet lots and lots of other actors, I kept coming back to him.
Q: You’ve made many smaller, low budget films among all the Hollywood productions. Are they very different experiences?
Newell: They are but there is something essentially the same on any film, which has to do with concentration and intensity and making sure everything is choreographed right and looks real and satisfying. You should also know that no matter how much money you have to make a film, you never have enough. You always think, if only I could have had more sets, bigger crowd scenes…
Q: Just looking around this location today, you seem to be juggling so many things: hundreds of extras, dozens of horses, extreme heat and some ostriches that aren’t cooperating. There was even a sandstorm yesterday. How do you avoid being distracted?
Newell: You are distracted! There’s no way round that. You simply have to slot things into different areas of the brain. So the horses are acting up, or the set has fallen down, or the weather’s no good, and you file that in the horse bit of the brain or the sandstorm compartment and you think what you’re going to do about it, but you don’t let it get in the way of working with the actors and filming the important scene. Get that done and then you go back to persuading the ostriches to do what you want.
Q: Whatever the challenges and despite the heat, everyone still seems to be having fun. Is keeping everything relaxed and happy important to you?
Newell: I hate dour atmospheres on set and the director acting like a dictator. I like everyone bouncing around and enjoying themselves. You get a much better result that way and, anyway, that’s what this film should be all about. If we’ve done our jobs well, it should be lots and lots of fun. On that point I have all my fingers crossed.
(Opening soon across the Philippines, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.)

princeofpersia01

Since he already has “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” to his credit, director Mike Newell knows all about making blockbusters. But even he admits to being impressed by the scale of his latest film, Walt Disney Pictures’ “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.” “There are days I arrive for work and look around me and just think ‘Wow!’” says the British-born director.  “We had one location where we borrowed half a village and added to it with colossal structures: palaces, public buildings, squares, gardens and secret passageways. It had four sides and the actors galloped around it on horses.”

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category movies



↑ Top