Jake Gyllenhaal has gained fame over the course of his career due to his critically-acclaimed performances in films such as Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler and Donnie Darko. So when it was announced he’d be suiting up as Mysterio for Spider-Man: Far From Home, it marked an unexpected return to blockbusters that ended in disappointment for the actor the last time around.
When Jake Gyllenhaal starred in Disney’s video game adaptation attempt, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time back in 2010. It was not well received among both critics and moviegoers alike, and it only made $90.7 million at the domestic box office with a reported $200 million production budget.
While Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was able to turn a bit of a profit with foreign box office numbers at $245 million, by Disney’s standards, it was a failed planned franchise meant to mirror the success of the Pirate of the Caribbean films. Jake Gyllenhaal is now reflecting on his last big-budget role to Yahoo! with these words:
I think I learned a lot from that movie in that I spend a lot of time trying to be very thoughtful about the roles that I pick and why I'm picking them. And you're bound to slip up and be like, 'That wasn't right for me,' or 'That didn't fit perfectly.' There have been a number of roles like that. And then a number of roles that do.
It looks like Jake Gyllenhaal’s experience on Prince of Persia steered him away from blockbusters for quite some time. The actor has frequently made inspired choices with his film projects, and perhaps the failure of a film such as this led him continue his focus on dramatic work.
Since Prince of Persia was based on a popular video game of the same name, there are some additional eyeballs and expectations on these films ,and the focus is sometimes less character-driven and more about the action and world-building.
Considering his talent, the failure isn’t the fault of the actor, as video game adaptations have notoriously had tough runs on the big screen. Disney hasn’t always had success with its recent action-adventure films, such as John Carter, The Lone Ranger, Tomorrowland and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice either.
Jake Gyllenhaal was likely up for numerous high-profile roles throughout his career. Ironically enough, he was in talks to replace Tobey Maguire for Spider-Man 2 in 2004 when the actor suffered an injury during the production of Seabiscuit.
Years later, everything fell into place with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio role in Spider-Man: Far From Home. The movie is one of the highest-anticipated summer films this year and Gyllenhaal is already being praised by critics for his standout performance with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
The pair of actors haven’t been shy about their bond on set either! Maybe Jake Gyllenhaal offered Tom Holland some word of advice on his upcoming video game adaptation, Uncharted? Gyllenhaal is also going back to the genre in a Netflix’s The Division alongside Jessica Chastain.
You can see Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home, hitting theaters tomorrow, July 2.
