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May 25, 2009
Prince Of Persia Finishes Shooting!
http://www.payvand.com/news/09/may/1265.html
May 25, 2009
Prince Of Persia Finishes Shooting!
By Darius KADIVAR
Mike Newell and Jerry Bruckheimer's Mega Epic Now in Postproduction, promises a great spectacle due for release in May 2010
Principle Photography in Morocco and London for the live action scenes of the much expected blockbuster Production of Mike Newell and Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has wrapped up and began post Production back at the Disney Studios. New Stills and feedback from the Studio give an inside look into one of the most expensive films to be released internationally in the Summer of 2010.
Set in medieval Persia, the story of an adventurous prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) who teams up with a rival princess (Gemma Arterton) to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier (Ben Kingsley) to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it's up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time …
The Film faced several delays due to the Hollywood Screenwriters Strike which halted production and explains why the film's release was postponed to 2010 instead of this year …
In March 2004, the production company Jerry Bruckheimer Films sought to acquire feature film rights to the 2003 video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with the film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Under John August as executive producer, the series' creator Jordan Mechner was hired to write the script. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy served as a touchstone in how a theme park ride was converted into a film franchise. According to Mechner, "Rather than do a straight beat-for-beat adaptation of the new videogame, we're taking some cool elements from the game and using them to craft a new story." Mechner previously considered producing an animated film based on the games, but could not resist Disney and Bruckheimer's offer. In February 2006, Disney hired screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff to write a new script for Prince of Persia.
Early in 2007, Disney announced Prince of Persia as one of its tentpole films and by June had scheduled a release date for July 10, 2009 before having a final script or any actors attached. By November 2007, Disney entered negotiations with Mike Newell to direct the film based on a script by Mechner and Nachmanoff, though the studio held off production until the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike was resolved. Newell was fond of Bruckheimer's films, and loved the "exciting [and] immensely romantic" script, which reminded him of Lost Horizon. His assistant played the video games and gave the director key details. Mechner, in writing the script, re-conceived the storyline to shift the perspective from the interactive one experienced by video gamers to the non-interactive experience by film audiences. The screenwriter left out elements of the Prince of Persia video games Warrior Within and The Two Thrones and did not anticipate including these elements in the film's possible sequels.
In March 2008, Newell selected Morocco as a shooting location for Prince of Persia and also planned to film in Pinewood Studios. Production was scheduled to begin in mid-June 2008. By May 2008, actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton were cast into the lead roles. With a new script by Mechner, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard, and Boaz Yakin, filming began in July 2008 in Morocco as well as London. Eight weeks were spent in Morocco before the first unit moved to Pinewood.
When filming began, the film's release date was postponed to May 28, 2010 with the studio seeking enough time for the post-production process in designing the film's special effects. The profit margin on the Pirates of the Caribbean films was compromised by overspending as special effects teams rushed to complete the films for their release dates. Variety also ascribed the postponement to avoiding the potential 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike so the studio could ensure that the film leads to a "mega-franchise" similar to its successful Pirates of the Caribbean series. Other reasons for the release date change were that the film was originally scheduled a week before Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Disney needed more time to co-ordinate its marketing campaign.
Some fellow compatriots may be disappointed that the film was not shot in Iran which is the actual Persia where the story is supposed to take place. Also the first images seem to suggest that the film Sets such as the Palace seem to bear more similarities with Indian or Arabian architecture than those of the Medieval Safavid Palaces that can be found today in the enchanting city of Isfahan . The same can be said as well about the costumes. Which is a shame …
However let's not judge the movie before its release and lets not forget that its first and foremost a story based on a computer game to begin with aimed at recreating the visual world of its creator. We will certainly have more to chew on in the year to come. So Stay tuned … ;0)
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This should be a great movie and I look forward to seeing it when it is released in the theatres.
May 2, 2009
Farhadi's "About Elly" wins Best Narrative Feature award at Tribeca Film Festival
http://www.payvand.com/news/09/may/1008.html
The award winners for the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival have been announced. We have the results: top winners include About Elly, North, Racing Dreams, and Fixer.
The winners of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival's competition categories were announced tonight. The top awards went to About Elly, North, Racing Dreams, and Fixer: The Taking of Amjal Naqshbandi, and more awards were handed out for the best Shorts (narrative, documentary, and student visionary), the Best New York films (Here and There, Partly Private). Acting awards and several Special Jury Mentions were also announced.
Co-founder Jane Rosenthal said, "I am delighted that we have awarded films from such diverse origins, helping to launch careers, establish names and tell stories that would otherwise not be told. I wish all of the filmmakers continued success and hope that they continue to bring their works back to Tribeca."
All winning films will screen at the AMC Village VII on Sunday, May 3.
Best Narrative Feature: About Elly
Asghar Farhadi's Iranian mystery on the Caspian Sea captured the hearts of World Narrative Feature Jurors Bradley Cooper, Uma Thurman, Todd Haynes, Meg Ryan and Richard Fischoff: "The universality of the characters and themes and the director's riveting grasp of this story make About Elly a film that collapses barriers and deepens our understanding of the world we share." High praise, indeed, but fully merited.
Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi is one of the most respected and acclaimed Iranian filmmakers working today. About Elly, his fourth feature, recently earned him the Silver Bear (Best Director prize) at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. He's no stranger to festival success: his prior film, TFF '07 alum Fireworks Wednesday, won Best Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2006, and his first two features, Dancing in the Dust and Beautiful City, also won significant awards at the Moscow, Warsaw and India International Film Festivals.