Mike Newell

Jake Gyllenhaal and his Prince of Persia costar Gemma Arterton brought their press tour from London to Moscow, where they were up this morning for a photocall alongside producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell. The gang was last in the UK for their big world premiere, after Jake spent the weekend doing interviews during the press junket. Conversation turned from the film to Jake's love life while he chatted with Extra and said, "Would it be strange if I said no, I'm not looking? Yes, I'm looking. I have two eyes." For now, though, Jake is all about getting word out about his Summer blockbuster. There are more stops around the globe in store for Jake and Gemma, including LA for another screening next Monday.

One of my favorite things about bringing a DVD home is the special features. Thankfully, Disney isn't making us wait for the behind-the-scenes goodies and has given us a sneak peek of what went into taking Prince of Persia from your console to the big screen. When he isn't toting his sweet Nikon DSLR, Jerry Bruckheimer — along with Jake Gyllenhaal and Mike Newell — talks about Prince of Persia's special effects, story, and the relationship between Prince Dastan and Tamina. Sure, the story may have changed slightly since you played it on your PS2 or GameCube back in 2003 (not to mention the new names), but I'm betting you're still excited to see the Prince make his silver screen debut, no? Check out the featurette after the break!

After sitting down with Jake Gyllenhaal at this year's WonderCon in SF, I headed over to chat with Director Mike Newell and Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner. Mike Newell is no stranger to mystical story lines, as he's directed such blockbusters as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, while Jordan Mechner started the whole story in motion back in 1989. Find out what they had to say about the future of the franchise, and why they decided not to bring Prince Dastan to life in 3D below!

Director Mike Newell on how he got involved with Prince of Persia: What drew me towards it was that I loved the script, and the idea of it. I was sent two things; I was sent the script, and I was also sent by Jerry [Bruckheimer], a beautiful art book of 19th century pictures — by mostly French painters — of people who had been out to Arabia, and had painted what they'd seen there, like documentary paintings of what they saw in Arabia. There was this incredible light, trains of camels, architecture, the desert, lines of fierce horseman attacking, and I remember phoning Jerry back and he said, "Well, what do you think?" and I said, "I dunno yet, but I'm not giving you the book back."

To hear why the story was so important, Mike Newell's thoughts on 3D and the film industry, as well as how the original Prince of Persia story was inspired, just read more.