The Prince of Persia video game franchise was created by Jordan Mechner and kicked off in 1989. Ubisoft acquired the rights in 2001 and rebooted the property with the critically acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time two years later.
Since then, multiple games have followed, including Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004), Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005), Prince of Persia (2008), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (2010), and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (2024).
A big screen adaptation was released in 2010 directed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire helmer Mike Newell. It starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, and Alfred Molina.
A live-action take on the 2003 game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a critical failure but performed admirably at the box office with a $336.4 million global haul against a reported production budget of $150 million – $200 million.
In fact, it held the record for the highest-grossing video game adaptation until Warcraft surpassed it in 2016 (since then, both movies have been topped by The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s $1.3 billion).
Today, scooper @MyTimeToShineH brings word (via GameFragger.com) that a new Prince of Persia movie is in development. It appears Disney will be producing the live-action project, and it’s a smart move on the House of Mouse and Ubisoft’s part as there’s still a whole lot that can be done with the fantasy franchise on screen.
We don’t currently have any additional details beyond that but we wouldn’t count on it having any connections to that 2010 effort.
In 2019, Gyllenhaal admitted that his experience making Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time put him off blockbuster fare for several years. “I think I learned a lot from that movie in that I spend a lot of time trying to be very thoughtful about the roles that I pick and why I’m picking them.”
The movie was also criticised for casting an American actor in place of someone of Iranian descent to play the lead Dastan. “You’re bound to slip up and be like, ‘That wasn’t for me,’ or ‘That didn’t fit perfectly,'” the actor acknowledged. “There have been a number of roles like that. And then a number of roles that do.”
In terms of the video game franchise’s future, a remake of the Sands of Time was first announced at Ubisoft Forward 2020. Originally scheduled for a 2021 release, it was delayed indefinitely and failed to meet its reported 2022/2023 debut.
The remake’s development was later moved to Ubisoft Montréal, a change from Ubisoft Mumbai and Ubisoft Pune. As a result, a new release window of 2026 was announced at Ubisoft Forward 2024 so we’re hoping it eventually sees the light of day.
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.
