The leaked version will no doubt be yanked soon, so watch it after the jump while you still can. Its presence should mean that the official high quality version will be up any day now, either in theaters or online somewhere. Catch the YouTube version now if you want an early peek at the epic-ness and awesome adventure this trailer is selling. I can’t wait to see this in better quality, but for now I can say that Disney could have another massive hit along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbean on their hands.

We’ll post the official trailer whenever it debuts along with our thoughts. For now, enjoy blurry Jake Gyllenhaal trading one-liners with blurry Gemma Arterton as they flee the blurry forces of blurry Ben Kingsley. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is in theaters on May 28, 2010.

[via /film]

A lot of smaller stories have been developing these past few days, so that means we’ve got another edition of QH&SB for ya (please hold applause until the end of the article)!

Jerry Bruckheimer has picked up the movie rights to graphic novel “World War Robot,” a story told in war-diary form by participants on both sides of an interplanetary human-robot war. Neat-o.

It’s been a while since Renny Harlin has made a film that’s truly been relevant, but his recent fare does have some fans, and many will always have a soft spot for the director because of Die Hard 2. Those fans now have something to look forward to, as Harlin has begun work on something that sounds promising — a project about the Rusian-Georgian conflict that took place in April of 2008. Plot specifics are being kept hush-hush for security purposes, but Harlin has said the story will revolve around an American journalist and cameraman who get caught in the crossfire and then must struggle with their obligation to remain impartial journalists. Harlin also says “I’ve waited a long time to find something with substance and reality…[this script was] exactly what I had been looking for, a great human story, with tragic, serious overtones.”

Before his untimely death, Heath Ledger had a few projects still in the pipeline. One of them was a music video for Modest Mouse’s “King Rat,” which Ledger was directing. The animated video has now been released by MySpace and is definitely worth checking out. Its anti-whaling message is decidedly unsubtle but entirely effective, and also offers a glimpse at some of the untapped talent Ledger had to offer. Watch it below!

Screenwriter David Leslie Johnson (Orphan) is working on a new project with Appian Way, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, and it sounds like all sorts of cool. Johnson is developing a gothic version of The Little Red Riding Hood with the company, though DiCaprio has no plans to star in the film. The most popular form of the story (at least in the states) has the titular heroine saving her grandmother from a big bad wolf with the help of a hunter, but other versions have markedly darker conclusions. I’ve always been a fan of fresh takes on traditional folk tales, so I’m definitely game for this project.

V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue is ramping up his next project, entitled The Raven. A fictionalized account of the mysterious last five days in the life of Edgar Allen Poe, the film will find the famous writer joining the hunt for a serial killer whose murders are inspired by his stories. McTeigue says, “It’s like the poem, The Raven, itself, crossed with Se7en. It should be pretty cool. The script is really good and everyone responds to it really well. I’m in the middle of casting.” Sounds like a pretty awesome concept, especially when you consider the fact that Poe’s real-life death was quite bizarre. He was found in the streets of Baltimore wearing someone else’s clothes, delirious and in great distress. He died shortly after in a hospital, repeating the name “Reynolds” the night before he passed. The author never got the chance to explain what had happened or to whom he was referring. Chilling. [via /film]

Cinematical has exclusively debuted the poster for Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel, starring Audrey Tatou. Click the cropped picture to see the full image.

Latino Review is reporting some updates on Awaken the Dragon. Originally announced two years ago, the film will be The Shield executive producer Kurt Sutter’s feature directing debut, which he will script as well. It will be a noir-style remake of Enter the Dragon, the 1973 martial arts classic that propelled Bruce Lee to international fame. LR paraphrased Sutter, describing the project as “a contemporized drama about a lone FBI agent who pursues a rogue Shaolin monk into the bloody world of underground martial arts fight clubs.” And you know who they’re thinking about casting? Rain, the Korean star of Ninja Assassin. Warners is apparently a big fan of the rising Asian star after his work in Ninja Assassin, and is keen on working with him again. Sounds like it could be a badass little flick. Let’s see how it develops.

Well, Variety’s BFDealMemo reports that Disney may have found their answer: Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha director Rob Marshall is allegedly the man for the job. Marshall, who’s finishing up post-production on the sprawling musical epic Nine (trailer here), was one of the many directors that producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the studio had met with in recent weeks. No ink has been spilled on the deal yet, but sources say “unless things break down at the last moment, Marshall will be steering the pirate vehicle’s next installment.” Disney’s keen on getting production up by Spring of 2010, in advance of their forthcoming collaboration with star Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger.

It’s not entirely clear what Marshall’s take will be on Captain Jack Sparrow and his ragtag crew, considering this fourth outing will set the pace and style for any future Pirates films. Story rumors have pitted Captain Jack and Barbosa heading to New Orleans, though nothing’s set in stone yet. Verbinski did a great job establishing the world in his trilogy (and not without a little help from writers Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio), but how will Marshall kick things off with the essentially blank slate he’s been given? Personally, I think he’s a great choreographer and his films are visually rich, but he’s not a great director. His films lack a compelling narrative drive and struggle to hold any real emotional weight. They might be pretty to look at, but otherwise they’re a little flaccid and lifeless in their storytelling. Maybe he can get away with that in an action-adventure fantasty film, where story tends to take a backseat to staging. But then again, isn’t that why the Pirates films got progressively less interesting in the first place, when eye-popping visuals supplanted character on the movie-making foodchain?

What do you guys think of Marshall taking the reins?

The production has had some unfortunate mishaps of late, including a stunt involving a Ferrari that went terribly wrong and a separate car crash that occurred just a couple days later that injured nine people. Hopefully things are back on track and no more accidents mar the shoot. Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, and Toby Kebbell also star. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing the flick, which is scheduled for a July 10, 2010 release.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the titular hero in the movie version of the popular video game series, and once again we see just how ripped he got for the role. The location work in Morocco was huge, as is Bruckheimer’s style, and it looks like this’ll be one heck of an epic and sweeping action-adventure tale. Newell’s proven he can handle big-budget franchises with the spectacular work he did on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so I’m excited to see how this one’ll turn out. Check out the footage below (don’t forget to hit the HQ button!):

The film co-stars Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, and Alfred Molina. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is scheduled to hit theaters on May 28, 2010.

Mike Newell is in talks to direct Disney’s The Lone Ranger, according to Production Weekly’s reliable but detail-lacking Twitter feed. Jerry Bruckheimer’s producing this one and Johnny Depp is onboard as Tonto, the titular hero’s sidekick. The script was written by the very talented Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot (the duo behind the Pirates films and Aladdin, just to give you a fun mix of their filmography. Rossio also created an excellent website that any aspiring screenwriter would do well to check out), which means all sorts of reunions are going to be happening on this one. Are you ready?

Okay, Rossio & Elliot worked with Depp and Bruckheimer on the Pirates films, Newell worked with Depp on Donnie Brasco, Bruckheimer just recently worked with Newell on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Rossio & Elliot worked with Bruckheimer on an assortment of other films, including Deja Vu, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and G-Force. Whew.

Newell cut his teeth working in British TV beginning in the 1960’s, but broke out with a string of smaller features, including Enchanted April and Four Weddings and a Funeral. He then proved his ability to handle big blockbusters with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I’m more than confident in his abilities, and if anything, Prince of Persia will prove to the world one way or the other if he can handle a potential tentpole franchise like The Lone Ranger. Hell, he could end up with two tentpole franchises if things go well.

Drop thoughts if you got ‘em.

Director Gore Verbinski, who was at the helm for the entire trilogy, has notified Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer that he won’t be returning to direct the fourth film. The sequel is currently eyeing a 2010 start date, with Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Verbinski, who just directed Depp again in the upcoming animated flick Rango, will instead focus on the adaptation of best-selling video game Bioshock. The director has a slew of films in the pipeline, including an adaptation of boardgame Clue and a look at the real-life world of online fantasy role-playing gamers.

Verbinski delivered some excellent thrills with the Pirates franchise, but I still think this project lives and dies with Johnny Depp. As long as he is still onboard, and they can get writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot to cook up some more adventures for the characters, Disney and Bruckheimer have nothing to worry about.

Check out the full Variety article here.

Quite a number of quick updates for today!

L.A. Confidential and 8 Mile director Curtis Hanson is in negotiations to direct Gemini Man, an action thriller being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Wolverine scribe David Benioff wrote the most recent draft of the story, which centers on an NSA agent on his road to retirement when he’s targeted for death. He discovers that the assassin is a cloned younger version of himself. Sounds like a pretty slick idea, but this thing’s been kicking around Hollywood for years (at least the original Jonathan Hensleigh draft), so no telling if it’ll actually see the light of day this time around.

Kevin James made a hit with Paul Blart, so why mess with a winning formula? The actor will reteam with his Mall Cop producers and Click and The Waterboy director Frank Coraci, this time tackling the next hijinks-heavy blue-collar occupation with The Zookeeper. The script, about a lonely zookeeper whose desire to leave his job because he can’t meet girls leads the zoo animals to intervene, was written by Jay Scherick and David Ronn (I Spy, Guess Who, Norbit). And what a script it must have been, because MGM picked it up last year for a ridiculous $2 million against $3 million. We’ll see if they can turn it into another Paul Blart-sized hit.

Remember Stretch Armstrong? The stretchy-armed strongman toy Hasbro hocked way back when? Well, given the success of recent toy-based-movies, studios are anxious to pick up pretty much any toy property to develop into a feature film. Stretch Armstrong is next in line. After hearing about big screen versions of Monopoly, Candyland, and Ouija, a Stretch Armstrong movie sounds a little more sane, though still not the most intriguing of ideas. Steve Oedekerk (Ace Ventura 2, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty) is writing a new script for the flick, which already had a few studios try and fail to crack it back in the 90’s. Only time will tell if they can pull it off this time.

Lastly, Columbia is moving forward with a big screen adaptation of the British miniseries Lost in Austen. The story centers around a big Jane Austen fan living in present day London who finds herself inexplicably swapping places with Pride and Prejudice protagonist Elizabeth Bennett. The show’s original writer, Guy Andrews, will write the screenplay (setting it in present day New York this time), and Sam Mendes will produce. Jemima Rooper and Quantum of Solace’s Gemma Arterton starred in the original series. Jane Austen’s a seemingly bottomless well from which writers can mine stories of longing and propriety and those sorts of things, but with this little twist, my interest is piqued. What say you?