According to Variety, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has landed some more top-notch talent. Alfred Molina and Sir Ben Kingsley have joined Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton in the video game adaptation. Molina will be playing Sheik Amar, who becomes a mentor to Gyllenhaal's prince. No word on who Kingsley is playing, but popular consensus is that it will be the villainous Vizir. Of course, since they aren't sticking to the video game storyline, it could be anyone -- but Kingsley is one of those go-to actors for villains.
Jerry Bruckheimer definitely knows how to guide a good cast. There are shades of Pirates of the Caribbean in this line-up, and that perks my interest. I do find myself amused by the addition of Molina, an actor of Italian-Spanish descent, as a shiek. That isn't going to help claims that the casting is ethnically insensitive.
At least we will get to see Kingsley in something fun and action-packed that isn't directed by Uwe Boll. Looking at his IMDB page, though, I see a shocking amount of missteps. Somehow I missed that he was in The Love Guru and Thunderbirds. Let us hope, for his sake alone, that Prince of Persia is really really good and as much fun as Pirates ever had. He needs to know what a real summer blockbuster looks like so that he stops choosing poorly.
Filming is set to begin next month in Morocco and the U.K., so I imagine we will be seeing pictures of a costumed Gyllenhaal before too long. What do you think, readers? Is Prince of Persia sounding better, or worse?
