The Latino Review scooped this over a month ago, but it was just officially announced that Jake Gyllinhall Gyllenhall, whose name I always have to look up to spell correctly, is the new Prince of Persia. Good news or bad news?

Well, bad news if you don't like Gyllenhaal, who's done his share of stinkers. Did you have to sit through Rendition and Day After Tomorrow like I did? It's also hard to look up his name if you don't know how to spell it in the first place.

But it's mostly good news for a couple of reasons. Gyllenhaal's a gifted actor and an A-list celebrity, so the casting isn't a warning signs that this is going to be a throw-away deal like the Hitman, Doom, Silent Hill, or Resident Evil movies, which were released without any real box office pull beyond 'Hey, gamers will show up to see these things!' Consider, too, that Mike Newell is an established director with some fantasy/action/special-effects cred from the Harry Potter movie, Goblet of Fire. If the Bruckheimer/Disney combo can work its magic again, the Prince of Persia movie could do for videogames what the Pirates of the Caribbean movies did for theme park rides (i.e. make a lot of money off them).

But what gives me pause is that Gyllenhaal is mostly known for sullen roles. I don't think of him when it comes to someone jumping around, wall running, pole-perching, and swinging the heck out of a scimitar. He's kind of, well, a schlub. You know, Donnie Darko, Zodiac, Proof. Heck, I'm going to say it: Jake Gyllenhaal is totally a nerd.

But at least he's fit. Check out those guns: