Richie – from The Benny and Richie Show – brings you word straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth on the upcoming Prince of Persia movie.
As part of an international press call, Richie caught up with Jordan Mechner (the man behind the original game,
Karateka and the movie's screenplay writer) to get the low down. Here’s the transcript in full:
Was the cast required to play the game?
You know, I think Jake Gyllenhaal played Prince of Persia games. He was pretty into it. What’s interesting is that when I was in London to meet the craftspeople – the people behind the set design and costumes and so forth... all the people working behind the scenes. I found that a lot of them were real gamers and they were deeply into the Prince of Persia games.
Gamers are often sceptical when their beloved series hits the big screen. How do you think loyal Prince of Persia fans will react when they see the movie adaptation?
Well, I hope they love it. I do. For me, Prince of Persia is the kind of movie that I’ve always loved – the ones that really inspired me to make games in the first place. It’s almost like an old fashioned, swashbuckling, romantic adventure.
Most, if not all, videogame-to-film adaptations make a difficult transition and often fail to capture the appeal of the game they’re based on. Why do you think this is and what did you do to try and avoid the common pitfalls?
I think the tricky thing about adapting a videogame to film is that games are written to be played, whereas films are written to be watched. The gameplay is the aspect that doesn’t really come through in the translation. So to adapt Prince of Persia to film I really set out to write a new story that was tailored to film. I used a lot of the game’s story but I didn’t try and copy the game story bit by bit. I think that wouldn’t have made such a good movie.
Are there throwbacks to the first game in this movie — anything that we're going to recognise from that game?
Well if you’re talking about the first console game Sands of Time, absolutely. But if you’re talking about the first game – the side-scrolling Apple II game from the 80s… not to give anything away but I will say there is some
portcullis action. There are some gates in the movie… .
Of all the videogames on the market, what were the key elements of Prince of Persia that you felt made it adaptable into a movie?
I think Prince of Persia is well-suited to become a movie for several reasons. The hero is a very sympathetic, relatable and human character and he’s a bit of an underdog. There’s a love story, a beautiful princess and a scheming villain. It’s really an old-fashioned adventure story. It’s set in this fantastic imaginative world of 1001 nights and a kind of physical action that has always translated really well into film.
We’ve heard that the upcoming The Forgotten Sands takes place between Sands of Time and Warrior Within. Are there any plans to continue with more games in this timeline, or will we move on to a new trilogy?
That’s correct. The upcoming Prince of Persia film is in the sands of time trilogy. As to what future games, I can’t speak for that. I’d need a dagger of time to be able to answer that.
Are you a gamer yourself?
Once a gamer always a gamer. I wish I had the time to play games as much as I did when I was in my 20s. The games that are coming out now – that take 20 or 30 hours to complete – I don’t have that kind of time so I tend to play more casual games. I’m having a lot of fun with The Beatles: Rock Band.
How do you think the movie will appeal to those people who haven't played the games? Will it be easy for them to understand the storyline?
In adapting Prince of Persia into a screenplay I think everybody who worked on the movie – like Jerry Bruckheimer and Mike Newell – never really saw it as a videogame movie. We set out to make a movie that would be for general audiences so that gamers would like it but also for people who hadn’t played videogames at all. It’s a movie that can stand on its own merits.
Are there aspects of the game that you felt wouldn’t work? Therefore left out?
Absolutely. As I mentioned before the Sands of Time game story was really designed as a story to be played. In the game the Prince accidentally unleashes the Sands of Time and transforms everybody in the world into these zombie-like sand creatures in the first fifteen minutes. That was a good decision for the game because it gives a lot of opportunity for combat gameplay. But that’s not in the movie because in the movie we wanted to explore wider aspects of the universe and not just turn everybody into sand monsters.
The Sands of Time was one of our favourite games last generation. Is there any chance that it’ll be re-released, perhaps on a downloadable service in a similar fashion to Call of Duty: Classic, once the film has been released?
I like the idea. The Sands of Time is one of my favourite games too, certainly one of my favourite Prince of Persia games. I would love to see it stay available to people who maybe didn’t catch it first time around.
Is Jake Gyllenhaal’s portrayal how you imagined Dastan would be in the real world?
I think Jake makes a great Prince Dastan. He looks a lot like the character in the Sands of Time videogame but also he has a lot of qualities that for me has always been a part of who the Prince of Persia is. He’s a warrior, and does incredible stunts and parkour and so forth but he also has a mysterious streak and an attitude and I think a vulnerability that is part of the character’s appeal.
While working on the original Prince of Persia game, did you ever think it would turn into a franchise? Or did you intend for it to be a 'one shot' game?
In the 1980s when I was programming the original game on the Apple II I don’t think I could have imagined it would turn into a giant Jerry Bruckheimer film with these epic production values. It’s been more than a dream come true.
Are there any plans, or desires, to continue and adapt more Prince of Persia games for the big screen, or even to write entirely new scripts?
I think Prince of Persia has adapted to much over the last twenty years that there’s so much that can happen in that universe. As to what’s going to happen come next… I’d need a dagger of time and even that works for rewinding time – and not seeing into the future!
Prince of Persia was released back in 1989 on the Apple II. Did you ever think at that point that we’d be sitting here talking about its upcoming feature film?
I might have daydreamed, but the way it’s turned out has actually been better.
Can you tell us about the book that will be coming out and if it ties into the game at all?
I guess the question is about the Prince of Persia graphic novel. That’s a book I’m excited about… it’s sort of a prequel to the movie. It’s setting up the characters and world of the movie as distinct to the games. Writing it, a lot of fun for me was to look back over the last twenty years and the way that the franchise has evolved and to include winks and nods to the games in the story so I hope you’ll like the book. I actually have my first two graphic novels coming out. One is Prince of Persia and the other is an original swashbuckling adventure, not based on Prince of Persia.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will be out 28 May 2010
