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Jake Gyllenhaal Is Good With the Scimitar
Gyllenhaal Apparently Persian: Jake Gyllenhaal gets untraditionally cast as the hero of Jerry Bruckheimer’s Prince of Persia, based on the franchise video game. (It turns out there are no actors of Middle Eastern descent anywhere in the world!) Bruckheimer also has high hopes for Gyllenhaal’s co-star, Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace), as many of his leading ladies “have gone on to become major movie stars, going back to Nicole Kidman in … Days of Thunder.†Or, like Top Gun’s Kelly McGillis, Arterton can look forward to doing voices in Disney Channel’s Buzz Lightyear cartoon. [HR]
Sony Flashes Gordon: Crank up your speakers and enjoy Queen’s Flash Gordon theme song, because Sony won a huge bidding war for the rights to remake the thirties comic/eighties movie. And even though it seems impossible to get an adaptation right, Neal Moritz will try his best. If only some friend of Vulture was already doing a smart adaptation of this exact same property in comic-book form! [Variety]
Disney Goes to Mollywood: Disney Channel has decided that those Annie Leibovitz photos will not go unpunished, as they’ve green-lit a new live-action comedy series, Welcome to Mollywood, starring tween Demi Lovato. In case you doubt she’ll dominate all mass media over the next three years, she’s already set to appear in the Jonas Brothers’ Camp Rock movie. Miley Cyrus, please return to Disneyland for immediate disassembly and termination. Billy Ray, um, please return to 1992. [HR]
There Can Be Only a Bunch: Summit Entertainment is reviving The Highlander, everyone’s favorite franchise about immortal dudes who chop off each other’s heads. To walk the fine line between campy and awesome, they’ve hired the Iron Man writing team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. If they’d hired us, we’d have definitely gone with our dream battle-royal pitch: Alien vs. Predator vs. Highlander. [Variety]
Lee Goes One on One With Jordan: Spike Lee tells a Cannes crowd that he’s ready to shoot a documentary about Michael Jordan, financed by the NBA. He plans to use unseen footage shot by the league during the last two years of Jordan’s career. If Lee hates making money, he can always call it The Number 23. [Variety]