Orlando Bloom May Lead in Prince of Persia Movie (Updated)

Update: ComingSoon.net has word from Disney, which claims there is no truth to the rumor of Bloom starring as the Prince.

Original story: According to movie site Hollywood.com, actor Orlando Bloom (caricatured left) has been tapped to play the lead role in the upcoming film adaptation of Jordan Mechner's classic Prince of Persia series.

The English-born Bloom's previous credits include the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogies, as well as the epics Troy and Kingdom of Heaven.

"Call him 'professional dreamboat'," said Shacknews staffer Chris Faylor. "You have to."

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Mike Newell (Pushing Tin, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), the film is set to start filming this summer. The script was written by Mechner, who created the Prince of Persia series for Broderbund in 1989.

The last release in the Prince of Persia series was a reimaginging of the original title on the Xbox Live Arcade platform. Ubisoft recently confirmed that development of a new Prince of Persia game is currently underway, aimed for release in Ubisoft's 2008 fiscal year which begins April 1, 2008 and ends March 31, 2009.