Thursday, July 31, 2008

Persia Pushed...


The Mouse and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have decided to release "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" in 2010 instead of 2009...

Delaying the film by almost a year(Memorial Day weekend 2010 instead of June 19, 2009), Disney hopes to allow director Mike Newell more time for the elaborate special effects that have to be done in post. Of note, this takes "Prince" out of competition with "Transformers 2," which was to open a week after it.

The film started lensing last week in Morocco filming exteriors and then heads to London for the remainder of the shoot.

Bob Iger and Dick Cook very much want POP to turn into another franchise that they can use throughout the Disney Empire. If it's a success can you see them building that Prince of Persia attraction in the Arabian Coast Port of Tokyo DisneySEA?

8 comments:

Ghosthost2 said...

Well, it's good that Disney is willing to spend time so that the movie doesn't feel like a rushed product. However, next summer looks pretty dull for me, and POP was one of the one of the few Summer 2009 releases I had any hope for. Transformers 1 was a total snooze fest for me, so I'll be sitting part 2 out. Only Wolverine, Up, and possibly Star Trek have much appeal for me next summer. Terminator: Salvation will likely suck.

Doopey said...

I guess this means they'll bump Voyage of the Dawn Treader to a holiday release window now. But I wonder where, exactly? Holiday 2009 is pretty crowded for Disney with A Christmas Carol and Princess and the Frog.

Holiday 2010 is a pretty big gap between Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader (I think the long gap between LWW and Caspian contributed to Caspian's poor performance).

I'm really hope they're not going to abandon the Narnia franchise.

Anonymous said...

Yeah Honor, does Disney have any other plans for a 2009 Summer tentpole? Seems pretty sparse for Disney in the summer.

Doopey said...

I wonder if they would push "Witch Mountain" into the summer. They seem to have alot of faith in it. Otherwise, it looks like all we have for summer from Disney is Hannah Montana, UP! and The Proposal.

Anonymous said...

Is Witch Mountain tent-poley enough to be pushed in mid-summer? I know nothing of the movie, but it sounds like it's being released in a decent spot (like Bridge to Terabithia). Regardless of quality, it could get crushed if it gets released in the wrong time just to fill a release spot for a studio (see Hellboy 2).

Doopey said...

I guess G-Force is still slated for next summer too?

Anonymous said...

This move has less to do with special effects than it has to do with the possible actors strike on everyone's minds right now in hollywood. to prepare most studios are pushing back on the films for 2009.

Anonymous said...

I hope to god Disney pays attention to the importance of scheduling this time. I thought they were nuts when they opened "Prince Caspian" a week before the fourth "Indiana Jones" movie. What the hell was Disney thinking? Indiana killed Caspian. And duh!!! Granted, the Narnia film had problems - most notably director Adamson's dumb decision to add more warfare into the movie and less of the character development and magic that so transfigured the book - but Caspian sitll would have done much better had it premiered during the winter. From the looks of things, "Dawn Treader" may very be the last of the Disney Narnia films. What a pity. I was so looking forward to seeing Puddleglum (from the book "The Silver Chair") onscreen. I wish to hell Disney would see Narnia as a separate, original entity, not as a second-class imitation of Lord of the Rings, which the books most certainly are not.