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Normally, a premise as hackneyed as this one — two brothers go off to war and when one is suspected of being dead his widow falls for the living brother — has about as much chance of being a decent flick as it does a Lifetime Original.

But the talent behind this picture is too huge to ignore. Director Jim Sheridan is back to challenging, emotionally human interest drama (we’ll forgive him his paycheck cashing 50 Cent gangster flick) with the talents of Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobie Maguire in front on the camera.

First official trailer for Mike Newell’s big-screen adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The film, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, and Ben Kingsley, is due in theaters May 28, 2010.  And you know what?  I had my doubts but this looks to be another solid Jerry Bruckheimer summer blockbuster.  Sure, you’ll forget it 20-minutes after leaving the theater, but man those two-hours sure will be fun.

I feel like Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell might have another Pirates of the Carribean-type hit with this one.  An epically, fun summer romp.  Escapist cinema as it’s best and worst. 

Gyllenhaal looks the part of the video game character.  But, there’s a wide disconnect between the movie taking place 1,000 years ago in Persia (Iran) and the modern typeface used to promote it.  The collision of cultures.

The typeface from the game looks much better.

And as cool as the poster makes Gyllenhaal out to be, it still feels like a minor design retread from the Sin City, Spirit days. 

There’s also something else about it, that I can’t put my finger on.  Oh, it’s somewhere buried deep in the recesses of my brain, but it doesn’t want to come out.  If feels like this is a complete rip-off of something else – the modern font, the washed out colors except for the bright red. 

300 perhaps?

Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on to play the first rock star of the NFL Joe Namath.  The project is being developed by Universal, but won’t move forward until after the writer’s strike.  No director is attached yet, but the movie, which has secured the approval of the football Hall-of-Famer, will be penned by David Hollander.

The pic will tell the story of how the golden-armed kid from Beaver Falls, Pa., became Broadway Joe, the New York Jets quarterback who became a ’60s cultural figure.

After backing up his guarantee that the Jets would beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Namath put the AFL on equal footing with the NFL, paved the way to a merger and helped establish football as a TV sport. He accomplished all of this on knees so bad that draft board doctors refused to send him to Vietnam for fear that they would give out on the battlefield.

So what do you think?  Think Jakey boy can pull off Joe Namath?  He sure looks the part and this will certainly help him shed the remnants of any lingering Brokeback jokes.   The best part of this, is that now everytime we mention this movie we have an excuse to show this clip:

IMAGE COURTESY OF DLISTED
Ashley Olsen went as a (zombie?) Marie Antoinette to Kate Hudson’s Halloween party this past weekend. This is 1/2 of Michelle Tanner’s brilliance posing with Marc Jacobs‘ boyf Jason Preston (not sure if the Mariah tattoo was part of the costume, or just a mistake tattoo from the “Dreamlover” days?)

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Britney Spears went into Winston’s last night as a pirate wench (left) but emerged wearing what OK! Mag discovered was the bartender’s dress. A source said, “While waiting for a (bathroom) stall to open up, Britney turned to the bartender, who was wearing a low-cut black dress, and said, ‘You have nice tits! Mine are all saggy’!” What a way to open up a clothes swap.

IMAGE COURTESY OF A SOCIALITE’S LIFE
Fergie went as me circa 1994 (I got TWO crimpers that year)…jk, actually I don’t even know if this is her Halloween costume, it’s probably just her taking serious fashion risks.

IMAGE COURTESY OF A SOCIALITE’S LIFE
Rumer Willis walked the red carpet as a…fairy nymph with bad extensions? Rumer recently talked to PEOPLE mag about what it means to be a celeb, since according to her, and PEOPLE, she is one: “But at its heart, she says of celebrity, “Being famous isn’t going to parties … it’s about being able to use the power that we all have to kind of give back.”

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Pete Wentz was his broken foot for Halloween, bc that’s all he keeps talking about on his website Friends and Enemies: “for anyone who was at the voodoo fest in new orleans- you got to see me jump around. ended up breaking the bone that connects my shin to my foot. no shows will be cancelled. i am currently trying to get a “rocker” boot so i can have a walking cast. currently my foot is the size of a small car. if you see me at a show come sign my cast.” (All-lower case writing not mine, too emo and uncaring for me).
IMAGE COURTESY OF POPSUGAR
Now, for a final roundup of those in attendance at Kate Hudson’s Halloween party: you can see Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal arrived together, Dax Sheppard showed up (he and Kate had a friendly breakup or are they back together?), and Kate looks to be having a gay old time as hostess.

And, as an addendum, I’ll post more celeb Halloween get-ups tomorrow since today isn’t, um, actually Halloween.

IMAGE COURTESY OF DLISTED

OK! Magazine has photos of Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal holding hands after stepping off an airplane arriving at LAX. The mag also reports they were smooching. Ooooooh, I’ll be sure to tell Tommy in eighth period study hall. And US Weekly, long proponents of this on-off relationship, will most likely make next week’s cover story title, “ON!” in giant magenta lettering. Jk, it will be another Britney cover, but maybe Denise Richards will try a “my side of the divorce” tell-all. US said:

“Are they making it official? On today’s Ellen DeGeneres Show, Reese Witherspoon finally spoke out about her on-again beau (and “Rendition” co-star) Jake Gyllenhaal. When DeGeneres told Witherspoon, 31, Gyllenhaal, 26, was cute, the Oscar winner gushed, “He’s great!” The day before, new photos surfaced of Witherspoon and Gyllenhaal (dressed in matching black T-shirts and jeans) strolling hand-in-hand and smooching at Los Angeles International Airport October 22.

The pair had been returning from Rome, where they were promoting their new film. On October 19, Witherspoon, 31, was spotted resting her head on Gyllenhaal’s shoulder while walking through the streets as they enjoyed some downtime. Looks like the couple may be comforting each other even more from now on: Their buzzed-about CIA thriller bombed at the bomb office, coming in at No. 9 with $4.2 million.”

Ouch. The same weekend that “30 Days of Night” topped the box office? Well, at least they can cry and cuddle together. Until next week. When they’re over again, because “Reese just can’t make a relationship a priority in her life right now” or “Jake mentioning he’s been on the floor of a men’s bathroom does nothing for the gay rumors.” Sigh. Hollywood hookups are so tiring.