14 DAY TRIAL // The first trailer for the Prince of Persia movie was released not so long ago, and it seems like it made an impression. With the estimated budget of $150 million and the success of the last collaboration between Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney that gave birth to the Pirates of the Caribbean blockbuster, the Prince of Persia is expected to do even better. Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, saw this as an opportunity to speak about the movie, but about its own franchise as well, and stated that the game-inspired film would turn out to be a true gem.
During the BMO Capital Markets 17th Annual Digital Entertainment Conference, Guillemot said that, "What we hear is that it could be maybe stronger than Pirates, which did $2.7 billion dollars. I think this will really help our brand to become a major brand in this industry." The movie has gathered some other big names, with director Mike Newell that also worked on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Donnie Brasco, but also Jake Gyllenhaal, starring as the Prince. The movie will do more than just borrow the game's title and popularity, and it seems like it will not stray too far from its plot.
Co-written by the Prince of Persia series creator, Jordan Mechner, the movie will include the magical dagger that holds dominion over the flow of time, but it seems like the sand monsters won't be making an appearance. Also, it's rumored that there's a high price to pay for using the dagger, unlike in the title. The interactive nature of the video game allowed players to be part of the action, so turning back time was a fun strategy that wouldn't really work in the movie. The dagger, in its game format, would eliminate all of the suspense and make the film a boring experience.
When speaking about the upcoming movie, Guillemot also took the opportunity to promote the company's other titles. The big investments that it made in Assassin's Creed 2 and the finally-to-be-released Splinter Cell: Conviction would also reflect on other Ubisoft titles. "We've decided to invest more on each of our franchises," Guillemot said. "It started with Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell. We did put more energy, more people to create master products. We think that will help those games become big events when they come. All the 10 brands that we have will have more emphasis. We will release less new brands, but more emphasis on the brands that we've already created."