SDCC 08: Mechner Talks Persia Movie

July 25, 2008 - Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner appeared at San Diego Comic-Con today where he chatted about his upcoming Prince of Persia graphic novel as well as Disney's in-development movie adaptation of his bestselling videogame.

While the movie is based on the Sands of Time game, Mechner said his script does not literally follow beat to beat the storyline of the game. He added that he does not expect any potential film sequels to be based on the subsequent games Warrior Within and The Two Thrones since they took the game's storyline in a different direction. Nothing from either of those games, including characters, will be in the current movie.

Mechner said that adapting an interactive experience into a non-interactive one means reconceiving the story. The challenge of the script was in writing an entirely new story than the game even if it has the same meaning, plot elements, and characters as the game. The movie has to be different because it is engineered to be played while the film is a spectator experience. Mechner wants the viewer to be taken on an emotional journey and to care about the characters so that way it's not all just about fighting monsters and action set-pieces.

Unlike his game counterpart, the title character in the movie to be played by Jake Gyllenhaal will have a name. Mechner said that he chose the name "Dastan" for the prince because he believes its an old Persian name that means "trickster."

Mechner said he's happy with the cast and that he trusts director Mike Newell on that because he's an actor's director and will make the movie a special experience for a game-to-film adaptation. He also half-joked that the film allows the prince to interact with other characters besides fighting them. He said that the pleasures of this type of movie is its large cast of colorful, memorable characters. He wants the story to offer viewers a journey that takes them to more places than just a castle. Due to secrecy, he would not reveal what powers the prince might have in the movie or discuss key plot elements. He expects the film to be rated PG or PG-13 and for its level of violence to be along the lines of other summer blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean.

He said that he at one time he considered doing PoP as an animated film but that the combination of Disney, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Mike Newell doing a live-action movie proved too irresistible.

So are all the princes of Persia from the various incarnations the same character or different men? That's the idea that Mechner wants to explore in the graphic novel. The comic is set in both the 9th century and 13th centuries with a storyline that interweaves past and future. There is more than one potential prince in each storyline but it involves many of the same things as the games did and has lots of roots in Persian myths and legends. He said that the ancient Persian Book of Kings, the Shahnameh, was his inspiration for both the comic and the videogame.

The official site for the Prince of Persia graphic novel can be found HERE.

Mechner said he is not involved with the upcoming PoP game from Ubisoft due to his movie and graphic novel commitments, but he did add that the new game, the movie and the graphic novel will all feature different title characters, which ties in with his aforementioned idea for the graphic novel.