Are you worried now, that Prince of Persia is not in
3-D like Avatar?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I think everything Jim Cameron
does raises the bar. So you always have to look at the competition and see
how well they do it and try to get up to that level. Sure, the problem is
now that there just aren't enough 3-D screens. You'll certainly see a lot
more 3-D movies; the problem is getting the screens and holding the
screens. That's going to be the hard part until they expand and make more
theaters.
Why did you choose not to do 3-D?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I think it's a good story and
I think it will do very well. At the time it was just too costly to do it.
What kind of challenges did actor Jake Gyllenhaal
encounter in this movie?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I think it's always the
biggest challenge to get a good screenplay besides the physical challenges
of shooting in Morocco where it's 120° during the summer! So that wasn't a
lot of fun and you can sympathize with our actors, with those heavy
costumes on with ropes and everything that they had to while it was really
hot. I mean really warm, that was a big undertaking for them and for the
crew. I don't know how many bottles of water we went through every day
just to try to keep everybody hydrated, but it was really warm.
What made you guys go with the British accent for
everyone in the movie?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I always find it funny when
you hear an American actor speaking in a period film with an American
accent saying things like “that's cool”. It just doesn't work. So we
thought a British accent was the way to go. It's more international and a
nice flavor to it. And that's what we do with pirate movies. If you notice
all of the actors have British accents. I think it's more believable than
an American.
What are some of the cooler sort of fantasy aspects
of the film that science fiction and fantasy fans will enjoy?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I think the dagger that
reverses time seen in the trailer.
Did you sign Jake for three movies?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I wish! No, we signed him for
one I think. We might have a sequel. And hopefully they made a sequel
deal.
Can you tell us more about the ostrich scene and did
you get to ride and ostrich while you were there?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I haven't had the
pleasure to ride an ostrich, but it was originally in the script and
[director] Mike [Newell] said, "How am I going to film this? Let's change
it to donkeys or something else." However one of the executive producers,
who works with me said no, it had to be an ostrich. It was going to be
funny and he was right, and Mike relented and said, alright let's figure
this out. And we did. It was difficult because they are not very smart
animals at all and they are not very pleasant to be around, but somehow we
got it done.
But it was really done, it was not a fake?
Jerry Bruckheimer: No, no, that was the real
thing! There were no visual effects in that whatsoever! That was the real
deal: that was really an ostrich race with those guys riding them. It took
quite a while to coordinate it, but we got it done.
While you are here, can I ask you one question about
Pirates 4? Will it happen?
Jerry Bruckheimer: We have a director and it's
moving forward. We don't have the finished script yet, but we are close.
But we are in production now we have a production designer, and we are
doing drawings. We have Johnny, we've got him signed. But that's it so
far.
What about Zach Efron?
Jerry Bruckheimer: I don't know anything about
that. I think that's all the press. We have nothing to do with that.
- Staci Layne Wilson
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