SIDEBAR: The Prince of Persia is one step closer to a shot at becoming Hollywood royalty. After preproduction on the film version of Ubisoft's action series was disrupted by the departure of original director Michael Bay (Transformers, The Island) and put on hold by the Writer's Guild of America strike, the Prince appears back on track. In December, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed for GameSpot that the film has a new director in Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), who was set to begin location scouting earlier this year. Newell apparently found a location he liked, as Variety is reporting this week that shooting on the film is set to begin in the North African nation of Morocco in mid-June.

　　Morocco has provided a backdrop for a number of recent feature films, including Alexander, Babel, and Stop-Loss. Going further back, the country also played host to classics like Lawrence of Arabia and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

　　As of late last year, Bruckheimer was aiming for a 2009 release for the Prince of Persia film.