Bruckheimer: Prince Of Persia Film "Kind Of Shakespearean"

13 Apr 2010 at 20:12:35 by Peter Parrish

Speaking with Gamesutra, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has described aspects of the forthcoming Prince of Persia film as "kind of Shakespearian."

Bruckheimer, the producer of Kangeroo Jack, Bad Boys II and some other films that weren't terrible, was explaining the process of adapting videogame narrative for cinema. "You take the game as a jumping-off point, and in our case, it's kind of a Shakespearean story we tell about these three brothers," he said. "One grew up on the streets and gets adopted by the king because in those days, when you had sons, they were inclined to assassinate the father to become king. By having this kid who could never be king in the palace, he was always protected. If the father died, they'd throw him out."

He praised the direct involvement of Jordan Mechner, the writer behind the stand-out title of the Prince of Persia series, The Sands of Time. "I think having him as a guide on the first screenplay was an enormous help," said Bruckheimer.

Bruckheimer also had some parting words for film studios who rush out tie-in games, urging them to simply take their time. "They know they'll sell X amount of games on that opening couple of weeks, and a lot of them do that, rather than take their time and create a wonderful game," he said. "So what if [the game] comes out later? As long as it's a good game, people will play it."

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