Gemma Arterton

Slideshow: 8-Image Gallery For ‘Prince of Persia’ Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

BrianTT — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:15:20 -0700

CHICAGO – This 8-image slideshow contains the official early images for the highly anticipated “Prince of Persia,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, and Alfred Molina. The film was written by Doug Miro & Carlos Bernard and directed by Mike Newell. It will be released on May 28th, 2010.

Synopsis: “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. 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.”

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. All Rights Reserved.

Prince_of_Persia_01: Prince Of Persia One-Sheet.
Prince_of_Persia_02: Ben Kingsley in Prince Of Persia.
Prince_of_Persia_03: Gemma Arterton in Prince Of Persia.
Prince_of_Persia_04: Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton in Prince Of Persia.
Prince_of_Persia_05: Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton in Prince Of Persia.
Prince_of_Persia_06: Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince Of Persia.
Prince_of_Persia_07: Jerry Bruckheimer on the set of Prince of Persia.
Prince_of_Persia_08: Jerry Bruckheimer on the set of Prince of Persia.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Video Game Review: ‘Prince of Persia’ a Mesmerizing, Addictive, Near Masterpiece

BrianTT — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:21:13 -0700

Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Ubisoft’s “Prince of Persia” does more than just take the opportunity to update a last-generation classic franchise on the next-generation format, just in time for the movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina to start building buzz for its Memorial Day 2010 release. “Prince of Persia” is that rare game that’s good enough that fans will still be playing it when the Gyllenhaal movie version hits theaters in seventeen months.

In his debut on the PS3 and XBox 360, the Prince is caught in a battle between ultimate light, represented by the God Ormazd, and pure evil, represented by Ormazd’s nasty brother Ahriman. The game opens with a chase, in which the Prince encounters Elika, a magical princess who will accompany him on his journey to save his Persian kingdom from complete evil. In the opening, the Tree of Life is destroyed and a dark substance called Corruption takes over the land. The acrobatic Prince and magical Elika must work together to heal their world and destroy the Corruption.

Fans of the original “Prince of Persia” games like “Sands of Time” and “Warrior Within” will barely recognize this game and if you’re a hardcore nut for the franchise and someone who doesn’t like change, it could be hard to adjust. It’s a new world with a new companion and a very different style of gameplay. But every change works. “Prince of Persia” is easily one of the best games of the year.

“Prince of Persia” features four worlds or lands that can be visited and saved in the order that the player chooses. It’s that very rare thing - an open-world adventure game that works. To avoid repetition, the difficulty increases as the game moves along, regardless of which land you heal first.

To reach and heal these lands, the Prince must perform a series of acrobatic moves like wall climbing & running and even using some of Elika’s magic to get our hero from point A to point B. Along the way, the Prince will encounter some pretty generic villains and a different major boss in each section, including characters like The Hunter and The Concubine. Battles include a combination of sword-fighting moves and using Elika’s magic powers. They’re varied enough to never get boring and increase with difficulty no matter what order the player chooses to play them.

The gameplay - jumping, running, swordfighting - is stunningly organic and smooth in “Prince of Persia”. What’s interesting is that I’ve played games recently with similar structures that weren’t nearly as accomplished. Trying to figure out which wall to hit and which platform to jump to reminded me of “Mirror’s Edge” and “Tomb Raider: Underworld,” but the controls felt more organic and easy-to-use than either of those games.

Finding the balance between over-complicated combo moves and titles that feel too simple to play is a tough task but the developers of “Prince of Persia” have done just that. It always feels fluid and becomes nearly mesmerizing with incredibly rendered backgrounds. The movement never feels forced and only occasionally gets repetitive. As the game progresses, the Prince and Elika earn access to ‘Power Plates’, which opens new areas and new ways to get there, keeping things just fresh enough to never get boring.

The gameplay and controls in “Prince of Persia” may be remarkable but what will be most remembered about the title are the stunning visuals. With a style that looks more like a hand-drawn painting than CGI, “Prince of Persia” is one of the most beautiful-looking games ever made. It’s incredibly rare to be eight hours into a game and still marveling at its visual aesthetic. That will happen to everyone who plays “Prince of Persia”. The score is gorgeous too.

Some players have complained that you can’t die in “Prince of Persia” and there’s been some negative comments around the general difficulty level (it’s not high) and repetition. While I recognize these complaints and can understand them, I can only be honest with my own reaction to the game - none of those things bothered me.

Yes, every time you fall or get beaten in a fight, Elika comes to your rescue and the Prince is merely brought back to the last platform or solid ground. But, it’s essentially just a checkpoint system, like nearly every modern game on the market. The days of “lives” in a game have been gone for years. Are fans upset that the checkpoints aren’t further apart? Seems like nitpicking to me.

As for the repetition argument, if you aren’t stunned by the visuals and don’t find the controls fluid, I could easily see getting frustrated by “Prince of Persia”. It’s this simple - If you don’t love your first hour with the game, you won’t love your tenth. I loved every minute of it.

What about the story? It’s a little cheesy and ends too abruptly, but there’s a surprisingly effective friendship at its center that works despite some of the bad jokes in the stiff dialogue. I actually started to care for Elika after she saved me for the 300th time.

Memorable visuals, unique gameplay, and characters that start to get under your skin - we praise games for having ONE of these things, much less all three. “Prince of Persia” is one of the most impressive titles of 2008.

‘Prince of Persia’ was released by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Montreal. It is rated T (Teen). The version reviewed was on PS3, but the title is also available on XBox 360. It was released on December 2, 2008.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

First Video Surfaces of ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ With Jake Gyllenhaal From Jerry Bruckheimer

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:10:42 -0700

CHICAGO – After the first image of extras surfaced on Oct. 15, 2008 for the movie adaptation “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” we now have the first video footage thanks to Entertainment Tonight’s willingness to go all the way to Morocco to get it.

“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” star Jake Gyllenhaal has some decidedly modest and sarcastic fun in his interview with Entertainment Tonight’s Thea Andrews while the camera reveals to us the first live-action shots from the film. You can watch the video segment below now.

“I guess I’ve gotten buff,” Gyllenhaal told Entertainment Tonight. “There’s a lot acrobatics in the movie – a lot of running up walls and jumping on things. It requires muscularity, but it requires a lot of aerobic ability, too.”

Some screenshots from the Entertainment Tonight video segment have been published by Movie Chronicles. Entertainment Tonight describes the plotline for the film, which will come on the heels of the wildly successful video game, with these words:

The story finds Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan: a young, Persian prince who must join forces with the beautiful and feisty princess Tamina (played by “Quantum of Solace” Bond girl Gemma Arterton) to prevent a villainous nobleman (Ben Kingsley) from possessing the Sands of Time.

The Sands of Time is a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley, comes from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” director Mike Newell and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The film is slated to open on May 28, 2010.

See the first extras image from “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

List of Top Seven James Bond Gadgets

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:59:26 -0700

CHICAGO – With “Quantum of Solace” opening today starring Daniel Craig, Gemma Arterton, Judi Dench and Olga Kurylenko, Jeff Bayer’s The Scorecard Review (a partner with HollywoodChicago.com) has published its list of the top seven James Bond gadgets.

Olga Kurylenko in “Quantum of Solace”.
Image credit: Susie Allnutt

Who would James Bond be without his cool gadgets? Sure, he would still be a great spy with a license to kill, but would there be 22 movies about the man?

Bond fans remember the old films when Q would introduce some new gadgets with each new installment. While Q may be missing in the latest films, Bond still has some slick tools. While even some of Bond’s adversaries dabble in gadgetry, this list will be strictly MI6.

Bond (Daniel Craig) shields Camille (Olga Kurylenko) in “Quantum of Solace” and fires at a fuel cell as flames engulf Medrano’s suite at Perla De Las Dunas.
Image credit: Karen Ballard

With “Quantum of Solace” opening today, it’s a great time to look back at some of the past Bond films and the gadgets he uses to dispose of henchmen, save himself and ultimately save the world.

Read The Scorecard Review’s top seven James Bond gadgets.

Hookup: 70 Admit-Two Passes to Chicago Screening of ‘RocknRolla’ With Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:23:29 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 70 admit-two passes to the Chicago screening of “RocknRolla,” which stars Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkinson, Jeremy Piven, Gemma Arterton and Mark Strong. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie (“Snatch,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes”).

To win your free pass to the advance screening of “RocknRolla” in Chicago courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is be one of the first 70 people to submit a comment in this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup. That’s it!

The screening will be held on Oct. 23, 2008 at 7 p.m. near downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

“RocknRolla” features Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Tom Wilkinson, Jeremy Oiven and Mark Strong.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

Here is the “RocknRolla” plot description (source):

When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London’s criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune.

Various shady characters – including One Two (Gerard Butler), Stella the accountant (Thandie Newton) and druggie rock star Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell) – try to claim their slice.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required.

Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this simple question:

Have you ever scammed someone? If so, what’d you do?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: The first 70 people to comment below win! We will be in touch with the 70 winners to distribute your passes. “RocknRolla” opens on Oct. 31, 2008.

Oct. 14, 2008 update at 1:37 p.m.: Due to popular demand, we have received authorization from the studio to increase the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup for “RocknRolla” from 50 admit-two passes to 70 admit-two passes.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Principal Photography For Untitled James Bond Film No. 22 to Begin on Jan. 3, 2008

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:26:40 -0700

Principal photography for untitled James Bond film No. 22 will begin in the United Kingdom on Jan. 3, 2008 at Pinewood Studios, according to the comprehensive James Bond Web site MI6.

Daniel Craig for the 22nd James Bond film.
Photo credit: MI6
In its Dec. 30 report, MI6 cites an interview with James Bond film No. 22 director Marc Forster as published with Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung. The Jan. 3 start date for the film is one day earlier than previously stated by star Daniel Craig.

You don’t have to dig too far back through the HollywoodChicago.com archives to find a few local hits on this director. Forster’s 2007 film “The Kite Runner” was a 2007 hit at the Chicago International Film Festival and we photographed him on Oct. 4, 2007.

“The Kite Runner” director Marc Forster at the
Chicago International Film Festival on Oct. 4, 2007.
Photo by Evan O’Donnell/HollywoodChicago.com
Though an official title for the film hasn’t yet been announced, IMDb lists the film under the generic title “Bond 22” while various reports cite the rumored title “007”.

Marc Forster is the director of the 22nd James Bond film.
Photo credit: MI6
Indeed, Forster in this interview delves into how the next film in the massive franchise is a quest into 007’s inner self. He said:

When [James] Bond began in the [Sean] Connery days, travel was a luxury not everyone could afford. Today, the world has become smaller.

If Bond goes to a beach with palm trees, it’s almost banal now. The only interesting trip remains the journey inward deep into the psyche.

As for the business of Bond, Forster goes on to admit:

Financially, there are limits – even on a Bond film.

As for additional casting beyond Craig, MI6 says “British actress Gemma Arterton may have indeed secured a role” in the film. MI6 says it is unlikely, though, that her role will be as the major Bond girl.

Gemma Arterton “may have indeed landed” a role
in the 22nd James Bond film, according to MI6.
Photo credit: Sarah Dunn

Gemma Arterton
Photo credit: Gemma-Arterton.net
Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the film is slated to hit theaters on Nov. 7, 2008.

Marc Forster is the director of the 22nd James Bond film.
Photo credit: MI6
For background, MI6 adds:

Foreign [filming locations will include] Italy, Panama, Austria and Bolivia. Paul Haggis completed the script based on a first-draft screenplay developed by regular scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

The story will be a direct continuation of the events of “Casino Royale”. It is British actor Daniel Craig’s second outing as James Bond following his debut [James Bond] film “Casino Royale,” [which was released on] Nov. 16, 2006.

Dame Judi Dench and Giancarlo Giannini will also reprise their roles. Mathieu Amalric and Anatole Taubman will play villains.

8:49 p.m. update on Jan. 24, 2008: The film now has its official title: “Quantum of Solace,” which Variety says is derived from a short story published as part of a collection by Bond creator Ian Fleming in 1960.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com